TY - JOUR
T1 - The paradoxical relationship between student achievement and self-perception
T2 - A cross-national analysis based on three waves of TIMSS data
AU - Shen, C.
AU - Tam, H. P.
PY - 2008/2
Y1 - 2008/2
N2 - Using 3 waves of the TIMSS data, this study investigates the relationship between 8th-graders' mathematics and science achievement and their self-perceptions on these 2 subjects. For within-country data, there is generally a positive relationship between students' achievement and the following 3 measures of their self-perception: how much they like the 2 subjects, their self-perceived competence in the subjects, and their perceived easiness of the subjects. However, in a between-country analysis, the relationship is opposite. More specifically, when the same 3 self-perception measures are aggregated at the country level, there is a negative relationship between self-perceptions and achievement. These findings are consistent for both mathematics and science across the data for all 3 waves. Correlation analysis is used for both within-country and between-country analyses. Among several possible explanations, the authors suggest that this pattern may reflect high academic standards in high-performing countries and low academic standards in low-performing countries.
AB - Using 3 waves of the TIMSS data, this study investigates the relationship between 8th-graders' mathematics and science achievement and their self-perceptions on these 2 subjects. For within-country data, there is generally a positive relationship between students' achievement and the following 3 measures of their self-perception: how much they like the 2 subjects, their self-perceived competence in the subjects, and their perceived easiness of the subjects. However, in a between-country analysis, the relationship is opposite. More specifically, when the same 3 self-perception measures are aggregated at the country level, there is a negative relationship between self-perceptions and achievement. These findings are consistent for both mathematics and science across the data for all 3 waves. Correlation analysis is used for both within-country and between-country analyses. Among several possible explanations, the authors suggest that this pattern may reflect high academic standards in high-performing countries and low academic standards in low-performing countries.
KW - Achievement
KW - Correlation
KW - Self-perception
KW - TIMSS
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U2 - 10.1080/13803610801896653
DO - 10.1080/13803610801896653
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:38949165047
SN - 1380-3611
VL - 14
SP - 87
EP - 100
JO - Educational Research and Evaluation
JF - Educational Research and Evaluation
IS - 1
ER -