6TH YEAR SCIENCE PUPILS HIT INTERNATIONAL HEIGHTS

10 December 2009 

Science pupils in their 6th year at Dutch secondary schools have chalked up impressive scores on an international maths and physics test at pre-university level. The Dutch pupils performed particularly well in physics. Yet compared to other countries, relatively few secondary school pupils in the Netherlands take maths and physics at the highest level. These are the results of TIMSS Advanced 2008, an international study into the educational level of pupils in the final year of secondary school. The results were published today by TIMSS and the PIRLS International Study Center of Boston College.

In the spring of 2008, almost 40,000 secondary school pupils at pre-university level in ten different countries took the same advanced mathematics or physics test. In the Netherlands, VWO students taking the subjects Maths B1 or B2 and Physics 1 or 2 took part. The Education Department at the University of Twente conducted the study among 228 schools in the Netherlands.

high level
Dutch pupils fared considerably better in the maths test than comparable pupils from countries such as Italy, Norway and Sweden. The Netherlands scored an average of 552 points on the maths test, well above the TIMSS scale average of 500. The scores for seven of the ten countries were below the scale average. The Netherlands topped the physics rankings, with an average score of 582 points. One fifth of the pupils tested achieved the most advanced level in physics, scoring 625 on the test. In maths only 6% of pupils achieved such a high score.

relatively small group
Dutch students attain a high level, but this impressive performance is the work of a relatively small group of pupils. In the Dutch education system with its various school types and streams, approximately 3.5% of all 18-year-olds take a final exam in maths and/or physics at the most advanced level. In most other countries, this proportion is higher. In Slovenia, over 40% of all pupils in the same age group have the opportunity to study maths at this level. This means that in most countries the variations in performance between pupils are wider than in the Netherlands.

In the countries that took part in the TIMSS Advanced 2008, the age at which pupils leave secondary education and the number of years they attend school varies. However, this did not appear to affect the performance on the TIMSS tests. Only the very youngest school leavers, the 16-year-olds from the Philippines, wound up at the bottom of the rankings for maths.

dearth of Dutch female scientists
In half of the countries, the boys are better at pre-university maths than girls. There is no such difference in the Netherlands. Maths B2 holds just as much appeal for girls as it does for boys, and the girls have just as much confidence in their mathematical prowess. Yet the proportion of girls who take maths at this level is the lowest in the Netherlands: girls account for less than 25% of the pupils who take Maths B2. Along with Lebanon, the Netherlands also has the lowest percentage of female maths teachers at pre-university level: a mere 15% of all Maths B2 teachers are women. In physics, the percentages of female pupils (19%) and female teachers (5%) are lower than in every other country. In addition to this, girls scored lower on the physics test than boys. Nevertheless, the Dutch girls do far better at physics on average than girls and boys in other countries. Physics 1 and 2 are less popular among girls than among boys, and girls also have a less positive view of their abilities in physics.

Girls who take science subjects are less interested in studying science or technology in higher education than their male counterparts. For instance, just under 50% of the girls in the study who took Maths B2 expressed a desire to study science or technology later on. Of these 'Maths B2 girls', 37% stated a preference for medicine, as did 26% of 'Physics 2 girls'. Among the boys who studied maths or physics, almost 75% expressed the ambition to study science or technology.

teachers' shortage looms
The majority of the Dutch maths and physics teachers in the study had more than 20 years' teaching experience, were qualified to teach at advanced level and were keen to keep on teaching until they reached retirement age. The maths and physics teachers felt that they were well-equipped to teach in the various categories covered by the TIMSS Advanced test. The teachers said they experienced few obstacles in their work. Only the lack of a fixed work station outside of the classroom was identified by over 40% as being a serious problem. Nevertheless, in the years to come there will be a shortage of maths and physics teachers if the influx of pupils remains the same. Over two-thirds of the teachers are over 50. In the 2007/2008 academic year, over 40% of schools with vacancies already had serious difficulties in attracting physics teachers qualified to teach at advanced level.

TIMSS Advanced was carried out in the Netherlands by the University of Twente and was financed by the Dutch Programme Council for Educational Research at the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). An electronic version of the report can be found here. For more information or to order a copy of the national research report, please contact Dr M.R.M. Meelissen (Teaching Organization and Management Department, University of Twente) on +31 (0)53 4894579 or Joost Bruysters (Science Information Officer) on +31 (0)53 4892773. The international reports can be found on http://timss.bc.edu/.