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Academic Effort and Achievement in Science: Beyond a Gendered Relationship

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Abstract

This study employs the 2004 School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) data to examine whether academic effort manifested by greater investments in school and homework does result in higher literacy scores in science for Canadian students. The study compares four gender–immigrant profiles: Canadian-born males, immigrant males, Canadian-born females, and immigrant females on their scores on teacher-assigned grades in science and on the SAIP science literacy test, and across a range of dispositions, beliefs, and behaviors suggested in the literature as predictive of achievement in science. Study findings show that Canadian-born students, particularly boys, have higher performance in the science literacy test despite their lower achievement in the science classroom and the least investments of time in doing science homework. In contrast, immigrant female students demonstrate the highest academic effort and achievement in science courses which are not matched by similar results in the science literacy test. We discuss these results in relation to different socialization experiences with science and technology that limit female and immigrant students’ abilities to transfer knowledge to new situations that have not been learned in the classroom.

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Notes

  1. SAIP had been in place since 1993. In 2007, this program was replaced with The Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (see http://www.cmec.ca/240/)

  2. The SAIP-SCIENCE literacy test assesses a range of science facts and concepts and requires these be applied to the solution of practical, “everyday” problems. The 2004 SAIP is a unique science assessment administered to the 13- and 16-year-old Canadian students. Since no major changes in terms of science reforms or demographics have occurred in Canada in the past 10 years, we maintain that results are still informative for the current situation of science education in Canada.

  3. The SAIP-SCIENCE literacy scores range from 0 to 5. The standard of performance or “criterion” adopted for 13-year olds was set at “2” and for 16-year olds it was set at “3”. These levels were determined by a panel of experts as reflecting acceptable performance for those age groups.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19575, 701 Planetarium Place, Arlington, TX, 76019-0575, USA

    Maria Adamuti-Trache

  2. Faculty of Education, Lakehead University, 2885 Sunnyside Road, Anmore, B.C., Canada, V3H 4Y7

    Robert Sweet

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  1. Maria Adamuti-Trache
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  2. Robert Sweet
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Correspondence to Maria Adamuti-Trache.

Appendix

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Table 3 Descriptive statistics of variables employed in the regression models (N = 20,142)
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Adamuti-Trache, M., Sweet, R. Academic Effort and Achievement in Science: Beyond a Gendered Relationship. Res Sci Educ 43, 2367–2385 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-013-9362-1

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