Analysis of high school students’ scientific competency: answers and justifications to PISA items

Abstract

This paper addresses students’ development of scientific competency by examining: a) their answers and justifications to PISA multiple choice items; and b) the effect of students’ engagement in inquiry-based laboratory tasks related to some performances assessed in PISA in their acquisition of scientific competency. The participants are 21 high school students attending Physics and Chemistry courses in 9th and 10th grades. Their written responses at the beginning and end of the study were analysed by means of a rubric based on the PISA scales of proficiency levels (OECD, 2008) for the competencies in identifying scientific issues and using scientific evidence. The results obtained in the pre and post-test are compared in terms of percentages and number of adequate justifications. Differences in the results have been identified both for the justifications versus choices to multiple choice questions and the results and justifications in the pre and post test.