Which Answering Strategies Do Low Achievers Use to Solve PISA Science Items?

Abstract

In France, PISA science 2006 shows a high proportion of students who are not able to understand and solve PISA’s easiest tasks. In this context, the aim of our study is to investigate answering strategies that low achievers develop while solving PISA items. We chose a case study methodology, collecting videotaped data from 15-year-old students from grade 9 in middle secondary school and grade 10 in upper secondary school in order to analyze their mental and behavioral processes. Our results show that low achievers often develop few specific answering strategies, and this mostly without constructing relevant and stable representations of PISA unit and items goals when they build their answer. They often transform the question in order to be able to answer it. In terms of the didactic contract, low achievers do not expect to solve some kinds of PISA tasks requiring creative reasoning. Contrary to high achievers, they are not able to identify the gap between the initial state and the expected final aim of the task. They are not aware of what they are expected to supply – new knowledge, for instance – to solve the task. Nevertheless, they can employ the beginning of relevant strategies, but currently PISA assessment is not able to identify them and does not allow the evaluation of competencies employed by low achievers.