Exploring Epistemological Trends in Students’ Understanding of Science from the Perspective of Large-Scale Studies

This paper highlights how results from large-scale studies can be used to understand students’ knowledge of science. Several scholars express critique of today’s PISA framework, especially with regard to the presentation of the results as national rankings, and suggest alternative and complementary methods. The present study has used PISA data to reveal hidden patterns in the results. The results show a general descending trend in items focusing on the nature of science and how new scientific knowledge is generated. On the other hand, there is an obvious upward trend regarding tasks that measure fact-based elementary or root knowledge. These trends are slightly differentiated at a national level, as the time and magnitude of the decline or increase may vary. 1. Introduction Since the 1990s, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) has conducted large-scale PISA studies about students’ knowledge of, and attitudes toward, science, mathematics, and reading. One of the common methods of describing the results from these studies involves comparing the mean values between countries in order to evaluate different educational systems, which also constitutes an important aim of the studies [1–3]. Jakobsson et al. [4] argue that the results of the surveys and tests of educational achievement play an increasingly important role in monitoring educational performance and in political discussions around the world. The test results are used as institutional efficiency indicators, quality assurance measures, and instruments through which politicians, school administrators, and teachers are held accountable [5, 6]. There is an ongoing discussion in the field of science education about the value of these tests, and several scholars express critical opinions about the validity and reliability of the measurements. For example, Sj？berg [7] and Bautier and Rayou [8] argue that the tests do not constitute a valid representation of students performance and knowledge at a national level, and that it is hard to draw any conclusions from the results. They also call attention to the fact that national science curriculum goals in their countries have diverged from the framework of OECD and IEA, and they point out the risk of the tests being considered as “hidden curricula” of science education. Other scholars highlight problems concerning the cultural bias of the tests (e.g., [9]), and the fact that the translating procedure favors English-speaking students [10]. Bottani and Vrignaud [11] also call attention to the inherent conflict between political and