PISA: Engagement, Attainment and interest in Science (PEAS)

The way in which science is taught can influence how interested, engaged and informed students are. Teachers are responsible for the delivery of curriculum content as well as shaping views towards, beliefs about and ‘trust’ in science. Different instructional approaches are used by science teachers as they work with their students. This report explores the association between the experiences of learning science and achievement in fifteen-year olds in England. Our analysis draws from two large data sets: the National Pupil Database (NPD) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 data. In PISA 2015, the student questionnaire explored different classroom teaching strategies including teacher-led instruction, adaptive teaching and inquiry-based teaching. Inquiry-based teaching is contested as an instructional strategy with compelling but often opposing arguments advanced by policy makers, educators and researchers