Indicator 27: Scientific Experimentation

The percentage of 9- and 13-year-old students who conduct experiments in their science classes provides an indication of the application of scientific knowledge through experimentation. While there is no strong evidence of a direct link between the frequency with which students conduct experiments in science and their performance on science achievement tests, scientific experimentation is still valuable as it helps to develop the skills of methodological inquiry and deductive reasoning that are considered critical to the discipline. National and local goals are currently being developed in the United States with a strong emphasis on the importance of hands-on activities. Although this indicator provides information about the percentage of 9- and 13-year-old students who conduct experiments in their science classes, it does not tell us about the frequency with which students conduct scientific experiments or about the kinds of experiments they perform.

• In 1991, approximately 78 percent of 9-year-olds and 75 percent of 13-year-olds in the United States indicated that they conducted experiments in science class during the school year. The variation in the percentage of 9- and 13-year-olds who had never conducted experiments in science was quite wide among the countries reported, ranging from 10 to 50 percent for 9-year-olds in Taiwan and Ireland, respectively, and from 13 to 51 percent for 13-year-olds in the former Soviet Union and Spain, respectively.

Table 27: Percentage of students who never /1 conduct science experiments,/2 by age and country: 1991

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Country			9-year-olds	 	13-year-olds
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-73
Canada			26.6 (1.0)		13.1 (0.7)
France			    -			20.1 (1.7)
United States		21.7 (1.3)		25.5 (1.9)
Other
Hungary			40.2 (1.3)		30.6 (1.7)
Ireland			50.1 (2.0)		26.8 (2.1)
Israel			14.1 (1.1)		34.5 (1.4)
Jordan			    -			26.3 (1.4)
Korea			18.6 (1.1)		34.9 (1.7)
			
Slovenia		21.4 (1.1)		22.0 (1.5)
Soviet Union (former)	43.7 (1.2)		12.7 (0.8)
Spain			40.3 (2.2)		51.0 (2.3)
Switzerland		    -			35.8 (1.7)
Taiwan			10.4 (0.8)		25.1 (1.3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Not available.
1/ "Never" means not during the most recent school year.
2/ Jackknifed standard errors are in parentheses.
3/ No data available for Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

NOTE: See supplemental note to Indicator 27 on indicator calculation for Canada, Israel, the former Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.

SOURCE: Educational Testing Service, International Assessment of Educational Progress, Report 12, Background Questions and Proficiency Scores for all Populations, 1992; Report 13, Background Questions and Proficiency Scores for all Populations, 1992.

Figure 27: Percentage of students who never conduct science experiments, by age and selected country:* 1992

*Countries are sorted in descending order by the percentage of 13-year-old students who never conduct science experiments.

SOURCE: Educational Testing Service, International Assessment of Educational Progress, Report 12, Background Questions and Proficiency Scores for all Populations, 1992; Report 13, Background Questions and Proficiency Scores for all Populations, 1992.

Notes on Figures and Tables

In some cases, countries limited assessments to particular geographic areas or language groups. A description of these limitations follows.

Canada, Israel, the former Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States

See supplemental notes for Indicator 8.

[Indicator 26]

[Indicator 28]