The association of intended and attained curriculum in science with program for international students assessment

Abstract

International examination results have already influenced many countries to make radical reforms in education system. According to these results countries have been categorized as high, middle and low achievement in education. Turkey has also taken these results into consideration quite seriously and started to investigate to what extent there are similarities among the nationwide examination questions and the international examination questions. This paper presents the findings obtained from the analysis of intended and attained curriculum in Turkish science context. Secondly, the paper analyses Level Determination Examination science questions according to Piaget cognitive development theory. Finally, the paper discusses the differences and similarities between the science questions in Level Determination Examination and Program for International Students Assessment. The results reveal that most Turkish students could not attain learning outcomes in intended curriculum. Level Determination Examination science questions are usually compatible with formal operational abilities of Piaget's theory of cognitive development and they are highly similar with the questions of Program for International Students Assessment. © 2014 by the author(s).