Finland, A Package Deal: Disciplinary Climate in Science Classes, Science Dispositions and Science Literacy

Larry J. Grabau, Jari Lavonen and Kalle Juuti
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Larry J. Grabau: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA
Jari Lavonen: Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
Kalle Juuti: Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: Finland’s educational prowess, though tempered by recent international assessments, has remained intact. This report focused on lessons that could be learned regarding secondary-level science education from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015, science-focused assessment. That PISA iteration included not only science literacy but also students’ science dispositions (epistemology, enjoyment, interest, and self-efficacy) and the schools’ science climate measures (disciplinary climate and teaching support). Due to the hierarchical nature of the PISA data, multilevel models were employed in this Finnish study, involving 5582 students from 167 schools. Science dispositions (as outcome measures) were differently associated with teaching support and disciplinary climate (epistemology with neither; enjoyment and interest, with both). Science literacy (as an outcome measure) was associated with all four science dispositions, whether modeled with each science disposition separately or all four simultaneously. Science literacy was also associated with the disciplinary climate in science classes for all tested models. We concluded that, in the Finnish context, science dispositions and the disciplinary climate were predictive of science literacy. Furthermore, we presented evidence from the literature indicating that these conclusions may well extend to other international contexts.

Keywords: school science climate; disciplinary climate; science dispositions; epistemology; enjoyment; interest; self-efficacy; science literacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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