Use and Impact of TIMSS

Hong Kong took part in IEA’s Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) and Second International Science Study (SISS), as well as TIMSS in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015. The Hong Kong studies provided data allowing background information on participating students, teachers, and schools to be analyzed in terms of achievement indicators and helping to explain gaps in mathematics and science achievement. The publication and dissemination of student results from earlier cycles of TIMSS impacted Hong Kong’s mathematics and science education community, as well as the curriculum development process. Workshops were designed for mathematics and science teachers at the primary and secondary levels based on TIMSS results, targeting areas of student weakness in mathematics and science. Participating schools received a report on the performance of their students for internal reference, which has potential impact on teaching and learning at the school level.

In terms of the curriculum development process, prompted by earlier cycles of TIMSS, the Education Department (which later became the Education Bureau) commissioned the TIMSS national research coordinator to lead a team of researchers to draw implications from TIMSS and other international assessments for mathematics curriculum development in Hong Kong. The research directly informed a new mathematics curriculum issued in 1999. During the current review of the GS and the junior (lower) secondary science curricula, curriculum developers also made use of TIMSS data. For example, in 2005 and 2010, two research projects were commissioned by the EBD for identifying areas of improvement by tracking student performance in TIMSS from the 1990s to the 2000s. Apart from providing invaluable insights on the design of the subsequent professional development programs and their impact on the quality of learning and teaching, including assessment skills of science teachers, the findings also provided timely data for curriculum developers in their evaluation of certain major curriculum changes in science education in Hong Kong since 2000.

On the international front, there is keen attention in the education community and beyond focused on the high achievement in mathematics and science of East Asian students in general and Hong Kong students in particular. A number of papers on this phenomenon have been published in international journals, and the TIMSS Hong Kong national research team has been invited to deliver papers at major national, regional, and international conferences. In addition, a number of master’s and doctoral students have written theses and dissertations based on TIMSS data.