Abstract
Taiwan has always been one of the top ranked countries in PISA, so initially interest in PISA was mainly concerned with standards monitoring, with some analysis of how instruction could be improved. However, from 2012, PISA became a major public phenomenon as it became linked with proposed new school assessment and competitive entrance to desirable schools. Students, along with their parents and teachers, worried about the ability to solve PISA-like problems and private educational providers offered additional tutoring. This chapter reports and explains these dramatic effects. Increasingly, the PISA concept of mathematical literacy has been used, along with other frameworks, as the theoretical background for thinking about future directions for teaching and assessment in schools. This is seen as part of an endeavour to change the strong emphasis on memorisation and repetitive practice in Taiwanese schools.
In Taiwan, PISA used to be an inactive seed
Appears once every three years
Could only be seen in newspapers.
Taiwanese performance in PISA
Seemed to be similar in TIMSS.
Be excellent in mathematics and science literacy
But poor in reading literacy.
After summer 2012, the inactive seed suddenly burst
Into every family with high school students,
Into the minds of all high school teachers,
Into daily conversations of Taiwanese educational community.
Meanwhile, a strange phenomenon arose:
PISA cram schools shot out numerously.
This chapter aims to report the dramatic effects
And investigate the reasons behind.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barnes, M., Clarke, D., & Stephens, M. (2000). Assessment: The engine of systematic curriculum reform. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 32(5), 623–650.
Booth, L. R. (1981). Child-methods in secondary mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 12(1), 29–41.
Chen, S. Y., & Lu, L. (2009). After-school time use in Taiwan: Effects on educational achievement and well-being. Adolescence, 44(176), 891–909.
de Lange, J. (1999). Framework for classroom assessment in mathematics. Utrecht: National Centre for Improving Student Learning and Achievement in Mathematics and Science.
Deakin, C. R., Broadfoot, P., & Claxton, G. (2004). Developing an effective lifelong learning inventory: The ELLI project. Assessment in Education, 11(3), 247–272.
Grek, S. (2009). Governing by numbers: The PISA ‘effect’ in Europe. Journal of Education Policy, 24(1), 23–37.
Heinze, A., Cheng, Y. H., & Yang, K. L. (2004). Students’ performance in reasoning and proof in Taiwan and Germany: Results, paradoxes and open questions. Zentralblatt fur Didaktik der Mathematik, 36(5), 162–171.
Leung, S. K., Yang, D. C., & Leu, Y. C. (2012). Taiwan mathematics curriculum, its historical development and research studies. In T. Y. Tso (Ed.), Proceedings of the 36th conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 1, pp. 165–178). Taipei: PME.
Lin, F. L. (2011). Sample items developed in Taiwan for assessing mathematical literacy (in Chinese). http://pisa.nutn.edu.tw/sample_tw.htm. Accessed 14 Oct 2013.
Lin, F. L. (2012). Proposing the new policy by using 'Reading and Thinking' to cultivate students' learning power according to the current educational issues in Taiwan. Educational Forum, Foundation of Commonwealth Magazine. Taipei/Changhua.
Lin, F. L., & Yang, K. L. (2007). The reading comprehension of geometric proofs: The contribution of knowledge and reasoning. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 5(4), 729–754.
Lin, F. L., Yang, K. L., & Chen, C. Y. (2004). The features and relationships of explanation, understanding proof and reasoning in number pattern. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2(2), 227–256.
Lin, C. C., Hu, C. H., & Chu, F. Y. (2013). PISA assessment for entrance examination in Keelung and Greater Taipei: Parents are much more worried than students. China Times. http://news.chinatimes.com/focus/501012570/112013010100354.html. Accessed 23 Aug 2013 (in Chinese).
Ministry of Education. (2003). Grade 1–9 mathematics curriculum formal guideline in Taiwan. Taiwan: Ministry of Education (in Chinese).
National Research Council. (2001). Adding it up: Helping children learn mathematics. In J. Kilpatrick, J. Swafford, & B. Findell (Eds.), Mathematics Learning Study Committee, Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2004). The PISA 2003 assessment framework: Mathematics, reading, science and problem solving knowledge and skills. Paris: PISA, OECD Publishing. doi:10.1787/9789264101739-en.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2009). PISA 2006 technical report. Paris: OECD.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2012). PISA 2009 technical report. Paris: OECD Publishing. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264167872-en
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2013). PISA 2012 assessment and analytical framework: Mathematics, reading, science, problem solving and financial literacy. Paris: OECD Publishing. doi:10.1787/9789264190511-en.
Pimm, D., & Wagner, D. (2003). Investigation, mathematics education and genre: An essay review of Candia Morgan’s writing mathematically: The discourse of investigation. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 53(2), 159–178.
Taiwan PISA National Center. (2011). Taiwan PISA 2009 report. Taiwan: Taiwan PISA National Center (in Chinese).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yang, KL., Lin, FL. (2015). The Effects of PISA in Taiwan: Contemporary Assessment Reform. In: Stacey, K., Turner, R. (eds) Assessing Mathematical Literacy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10121-7_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10121-7_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10120-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10121-7
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)