TIMSS Science Achievement Profiles and Their Associations with Motivation, Instructional Quality Scales

The aim of this study was to analyze the achievement profiles of fourth-grade German students in science by using content and cognitive domains in TIMSS 2019. We investigated students' achievement patterns across science content and cognitive domain subscales using latent profile analysis. Based on the results of the analyses, the optimum number of profiles was determined as four. When the achievement profiles of the students were analyzed, it was determined that the mean scores of the life science and applying subscales of the students in the low achievement profiles were significantly higher than the other subscale scores. In high achievement profiles, it was observed that the life and physical science subscale scores were similar and higher than the Earth subscale. When the cognitive domains in high achievement profiles were investigated, the highest mean score was found for the knowing subscale, which was followed by reasoning and applying subscales.The study also conducted covariate analyses with demographical and teaching variables commonly assumed to be associated with achievement in the literature, such as gender, language, home resources for learning and instructional quality. We also investigated science motivation scales across the covariate analysis. According to the results of the study, students who sometimes or never speak German in their homes were classified in low achievement profiles compared to students who always speak German in their homes. Likewise, students who had few or some home resources for learning at home were also classified in lower achievement profiles. In addition, students who were very confident in science were categorized in high achievement profiles. Similarly, it was found that students with the high ratings of classroom management and constructive support were classified in higher achievement profiles. However, even though the students were classified in the low achievement profile, it was found that they rated the teaching highly cognitive activating and liked learning science.