Use and Impact of TIMSS

Malaysia’s performance in TIMSS has triggered interest among academics, politicians, and stakeholders. Malaysia’s ranking, compared to other participating countries in 2011, was met with an overwhelming response among educators, academics, politicians, the general public, and the media. The biggest concern for academics and stakeholders was that student performance in TIMSS 2011 indicated a downward trend in Malaysia since the 2003 cycle. As a result, the TIMSS assessment framework and the items used in TIMSS testing were studied, and secondary analyses of TIMSS Malaysia data were carried out. The results indicated that students in Malaysia were falling behind in TIMSS because they lacked the opportunity to develop Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). Measures were taken to address this issue, including training teachers to integrate HOTS objectives into their classroom instruction; reviewing textbooks; and increasing the proportion of HOTS items on national examinations. In 2011, a new curriculum for the primary level was introduced to first grade students, and a revised curriculum for both mathematics and science at the secondary school level will be implemented in 2017, beginning with seventh grade students.