TIMSS 2019 Science Grade 8: Where is Malaysia standing?

Abstract

Most of the future jobs in Malaysia and worldwide will be related to STEM areas. The nation will need more STEM talent to ensure that the national development can continue to prosper. STEM talent should be nurtured since school education but studies show that Malaysian students were not doing well in science, lack of interest and the teaching method is still examination oriented. This paper reveals the analysis of the Trend in Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) for Science Grade 8 from 1999 to 2019 to find the pattern of the Malaysian students’ performance in science. Over 20 years, the percentage of advanced benchmark achievers in TIMSS for Malaysian students have dropped from 5% to 3%. The overall score of Malaysia has never surpassed the international average. Over the years, Malaysian students scored questions that measured application better than questions that measured reasoning. While the interest and appreciation of Malaysian students towards science were high over the year, Malaysian students have very low confidence in science, and it has dropped drastically over the years. Science investigation were conducted by Malaysian school teachers but students scored better in science when the frequency of teachers conducting science investigation in science lessons were “once or twice a month” compared to “once a week”. Therefore, it is suggested that the science curriculum should be reviewed to ensure that the topics are not too complicated for school students so that it would not kill their confidence in science. At the same time, inquiry-based learning practiced by science teachers should be improved so that the science investigation conducted in science lessons contributed to the understanding and confidence of the students. Researchers should also look into scientific epistemology when the students construct scientific concepts during science investigation.