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[edit] POV

The charts are very misleading, either list all countries or only the top 10. Frigo 05:51, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Third"

Why is the TIMSS often called the "Third" International Mathematics and Science Study? For example, both the chart of the 1997 and the chart for the 2003 study in this article are labeled the "Third International Math and Science Study." This is not explained in the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.251.184.57 (talk) 03:42, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

TIMSS was the third in a series of assessments of the mathematics and science knowledge and skills of students around the world. After the TIMSS 1995 data collection, there was collective agreement that the study should continue on a 4-year cycle, so that countries could follow trends in student achievement. Following the naming conventions of prior studies, the follow up study should have been called the Fourth International Mathematics and Science Study (FIMSS), and the subsequent study should have been called the Fifth International Mathematics and Science Study (also FIMSS). To avoid confusion among educators and policymakers, and to build on the name recognition of the 1995 study, it was decided to keep the TIMSS moniker by changing "Third" to "Trends." Thus, TIMSS is now known as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. Each subsequent data collection is differentiated by the year of data collection (e.g., TIMSS 1999, TIMSS 2003, and TIMSS 2007).

Pagonzales (talk) 01:07, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The History of TIMSS

- Directly taken from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Website [1]

First International Mathematics Study (FIMS)

Twelve countries participated in this First International Mathematics Study (FIMS). They collected data in 1964 on two populations-13-year-olds and students at the pre-university year. The study identified several different factors influencing both the learning and teaching of mathematics.

Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS)

During 1980–81, IEA conducted the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS), with 20 countries participating, and in 1983–84 carried out the Second International Science Study (SISS), with 24 countries. Both studies tested three populations of students. This strategy of carrying out a repeated study over an interval of several years provided important information on changes in standard of achievement in different countries, especially in the case of science.

Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)

In 1995, IEA completed data collection for the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Forty-five countries participated in TIMSS, with more than half a million students encompassing five grades tested.

The subsequent data collection for TIMSS (at present known as Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) took place in 1999 and 2003.

--MathChique (talk) 15:40, 5 June 2008 (UTC)MathChique