Scientific literacy is a central aim of science education. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) provides a measure of secondary students’ scientific literacy and reported science instruction in 72 countries. Researchers have analyzed PISA data to identify important relationships between science instruction and students’ science achievement. The purpose of this study is to further explore these relationships by using PISA 2015 data from a sample of 13 participating countries representing a range of mean science achievement. We use Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to explore how students from highest- and lowest-performing profiles characterize the inquiry-based science instruction they experience. We then use cluster analysis to compare patterns in inquiry-based instruction reported by students in the highest-performing profiles in each country and examine relationships between inquiry-based and other instructional practices. Findings from our analysis reveal fundamental differences in the frequency and nature of inquiry-based instruction reported by students associated with the highest and lowest levels of science achievement. For the highest performing profiles of students, results illustrate both consistencies and unique features of science instruction students report across four distinct clusters of countries. We discuss implications of these results for theory, research, and the design of science learning environments.

Education advocates argue that effective schools should foster multidimensional educational goals that not only include cognitive but also non-cognitive outcomes. One important non-cognitive outcome are social and emotional skills. Previous research showed that for enhancing students’ social and emotional learning (SEL) one of the most important factor is the teacher. Hence, the present study investigated teachers’ familiarity, beliefs, training, and perceived school culture with regard to social and emotional learning and its facets self-awareness, self-management, and social-awareness by applying a convergent parallel mixed-method design. We conducted in-depth interviews and an online survey with secondary teachers from different countries. The reason for collecting both qualitative and quantitative data was to obtain different but complementary data on the same topic in order to bring greater insight into this research question than would have been obtained by either type of data separately. Teachers reported an uncertainty and a lack of professional skills and knowledge in delivering SEL instructions that was particularly low for self-awareness and self-management. Therefore, in both study parts, teachers expressed strong interest in receiving professional SEL training. However, schools rarely provide resources (instruction materials, specific courses or activities) or create conditions (training teachers, devoting teaching hours, increasing number of counselors at schools, receiving school administration support), that would promote teachers’ instruction of SEL. The results do not only add to researchers’ knowledge about teachers’ SEL familiarity, beliefs, training, and school culture, but are also relevant for policymakers, administrators, and school staff by identifying critical aspects that prevent successful SEL in schools.

The relevance of the school context to creating a successful learning environment and promoting teachers’ instructional quality is not yet clear. In the current study, we examine whether schools differ in aspects of instructional quality (i.e., classroom management and task feedback) and whether differences between schools can be explained by school characteristics (i.e., social composition, school’s academic track, principals’ leadership, teacher collaboration, and school climate). Therefore, we model instructional quality both at teacher and school level and include multiple perspectives on the school context. German Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 data were re-analyzed, resulting in data from 1,939 teachers and their principals in 198 schools. Multilevel analyses revealed that schools differ systematically in their instructional quality. These differences were related to social composition, principals’ leadership, teacher collaboration, and school climate. Accordingly, schools have the potential to promote instructional quality. However, teachers’ perceptions of school characteristics are more relevant than those of the principals.

In the present study with 86 undergraduate students, we related trait Mathematics Anxiety (MA) with two indicators of state anxiety: self-reported state anxiety and electrodermal activity (EDA). Extending existing research, we included appraisals of control and perceived value in hierarchical multiple regression analyses in accordance with the control-value theory of achievement emotions (Pekrun, 2006). Results showed that trait MA predicted self-reported state anxiety, while no additional variance was explained by including control and value. In contrast, we found no significant relation between trait MA and physiological state anxiety, but a significant, negative three-way interaction effect with control and value. Regression coefficients indicated that trait MA predicted physiological state anxiety, but only in the presence of negative perceived control and positive perceived value. Thus, our results support the control-value theory for physiological state anxiety, but not for self-reports. They emphasize the need to distinguish between trait and state MA, the advantages of adopting the control-value theory, and the benefits of using EDA recording as a supplemental assessment method for state anxiety.