Design and implementation of the IEA Civic and Citizenship Education Study

This paper provides an overview of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) and summarizes different aspects of the study implementation. It outlines: the structure of the assessment framework; the design, development and implementation of instruments; the sampling design and outcomes; and quality control measures for the study

PISA 2022. Reporting Australia’s results. Volume II: Student and school characteristics

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparative study of student performance directed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA measures the cumulative outcomes of education by assessing how well 15-year-olds, who have nearly completed compulsory schooling in most participating educational systems, are prepared to use their knowledge and skills in particular areas to meet real-world opportunities and challenges. In addition to the cognitive data reported on in Volume I, PISA collected a wealth of student and school contextual data through the background questionnaires. This report focuses on a variety of constructs related to 15-year-old students’ experiences at school, which illustrate student background characteristics and schooling environments, including sense of belonging, student–teacher relationships, disciplinary climate, exposure to bullying, students’ resistance to stress, curiosity, perseverance, shortage of educational staff and shortage of educational material. Volume II of the PISA 2022 national report examines the similarities and differences between a number of participating countries and economies, referred to as comparison countries; the Australian states and territories; and, school sector and different demographic groups for each of the above constructs. The results from PISA, as one of the assessments in the National Assessment Program, allow for nationally comparable reports of student outcomes against the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration (Education Council, 2019)

Young People's Views of Government, Peaceful Coexistence, and Diversity in Five Latin American Countries

This open access report presents findings from the five Latin American countries that participated in the second cycle of the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2016). ICCS 2016 investigated the ways in which a range of countries are preparing their young people to undertake their roles as citizens during the second decade of the 21st century. The study also responded to new challenges in civic and citizenship education, and its findings allow robust comparisons of lower-secondary students’ attitudes to and perceptions of a wide range of aspects related to civics and citizenship. The results presented in this report come mainly from data collected via a regional Latin American student questionnaire. The findings provide insights into Latin American lower-secondary students’ thoughts on government practices (e.g., corruption and authoritarian government), their attitudes toward peaceful coexistence (e.g., use of violence, disobedience to the law, empathy), and their perceptions of diversity in society (e.g., tolerance of and discrimination against minorities and homosexuals). Four of the five participating Latin American countries also participated in the previous cycle of this study (ICCS 2009), making it possible to explore changes in young people’s civic-related perceptions and attitudes between 2009 and 2016. Data from the international part of the study (test and questionnaire) were used to review the extent to which region-specific perceptions relate to other factors such as students’ level of civic knowledge and students’ socioeconomic and educational contexts

Young People’s Use of Social Media and Internet for Civic Engagement in 21 Countries

The use of digital technologies for citizenship engagement has become more widespread over recent years and has led to the conceptualisation of ‘digital citizenship’ as an emerging feature of citizenship participation in societies at the outset of the 21st century. This paper uses data from the recent ICCS 2016 survey to investigate the scope of using social media and the internet for civic engagement among lower-secondary students in 21 countries. It analyses its relationship with context factors and other forms of engagement, and models the influence of a range of contextual and other related variables on variation in students’ use of social media for civic engagement

IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2018 Assessment Framework

This open access book presents the assessment framework for IEA’s International Computer an Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018, which is designed to assess how well students are prepared for study, work and life in a digital world. The study measures international differences in students’ computer and information literacy (CIL): their ability to use computers to investigate, create, participate and communicate at home, at school, in the workplace and in the community. Participating countries also have an option for their students to complete an assessment of computational thinking (CT). The ICILS assessment framework articulates the basic structure of the study, providing a description of the field and the constructs to be measured. This book outlines the design and content of the measurement instruments, sets down the rationale for those designs, and describes how measures generated by those instruments relate to the constructs. Hypothesized relations between constructs provide the foundation for some of the analyses that follow. Above all, the framework links ICILS to other similar research, enabling the contents of this assessment framework to combine theory and practice in an explication of both the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of ICILS

National Assessment Program: ICT Literacy 2022: Public report

This public report documents the findings of the sixth National Assessment Program ICT Literacy (NAP–ICT Literacy) assessment cycle. In reporting national key performance measures (KPMs) of Australian students’ ICT literacy, the NAP–ICT Literacy assessment provides a way to monitor progress towards the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Goals for Young Australians. Goal 2 of the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration is that “all young Australians become confident and creative individuals, successful lifelong learners, and active and informed members of the community” (Education Council 2019, p. 6). The elaboration of this goal highlights the importance of young Australians’ digital and ICT literacy in a rapidly evolving technological landscape and establishes the context and rationale for reporting on student achievement and progress in this area. For NAP–ICT Literacy 2022, ICT literacy is defined as “the ability to use ICT appropriately and safely to access, manage and evaluate information; develop new understandings; apply computational, design and systems thinking to create solutions; communicate and collaborate with others; and engage productively with emerging and future technologies” (ACARA 2020, p. 13). The NAP–ICT Literacy assessment instrument requires students to apply their ICT knowledge within real-world contexts that represent the 4 strands and integrated aspects outlined in the NAP–ICT Literacy Assessment Framework. These are: understanding ICT and digital systems, investigating and planning solutions with ICT, implementing and evaluating digital solutions, and applying safe and ethical protocols and practices when using ICT

Education for Citizenship in Times of Global Challenge. IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2022 International Report

This publication contains the first report on findings from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2022 which was conducted across 24 education systems to provide data and insights about lower-secondary school students’ understanding of civics and citizenship. Countries participating were: Brazil; Bulgaria; Chinese Taipei; Colombia; Croatia; Cyprus; Denmark; Estonia; France; Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia); Germany (Schleswig-Holstein); Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Malta; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Romania; Serbia; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Spain; and Sweden. The third cycle of ICCS set out to address aspects related to global citizenship, sustainable development, migration, changes to traditional political systems, and the use of digital technologies for civic engagement, while also continuing to monitor changes over time using common measures across cycles. ICCS 2022 offered the option of an online delivery, which was chosen by about three quarters of participating countries and included specifically designed test items that used the possibilities of a digital assessment to enhance measurement of students’ civic knowledge and understanding. Between February and September 2022, the main survey gathered data from 82,000 students and 40,000 teachers at about 3400 schools. Incorporated into the ICCS main survey was a mode effect study which allowed for data collected using the paper-based instruments to be compared with data collected on computer from equivalent groups of students. Key research questions addressed include: how is civic and citizenship education implemented, and what is the extent and variation of students’ civic knowledge within and across participating countries? What is the extent of students’ engagement in different spheres of society and which factors within or across countries are related to it? What beliefs do students in participating countries hold regarding important civic issues in modern society and what are the factors influencing their variation? How is schooling in participating countries organised regarding civic and citizenship education and what is its association with students’ learning outcomes? Themes addressed include: sustainability, engagement through digital technologies, views of political systems, global citizenship, and diversity

IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2022: Assessment Framework

The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) investigates the preparation of young people to undertake their roles as citizens. It gathers and analyzes data from representative national samples on students’ conceptual knowledge and understanding of civics and citizenship, as well as their attitudes to, and engagement with, aspects of civics and citizenship. ICCS builds on a succession of IEA studies in this field dating back to 1971, and especially since 2009. The 2022 study has been developed to build on previous perspectives on, and monitor changes in, such enduring issues as: levels of civic knowledge and understanding; patterns of and dispositions toward civic engagement; attitudes to citizenship and equal rights; and schools as spaces for learning about citizenship. In addition, ICCS 2022 encompasses new developments such as increased globalization and migration; the implications of increasing social diversity; the roles of digital technologies in civic engagement and exchanging information; changing attitudes to traditional political systems; and the disruption to schooling associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The assessment framework provides a conceptual underpinning for the international instrumentation for ICCS 2022. It needs to identify and define those aspects of cognitive and affective-behavioral content that should be considered important learning outcomes of civic and citizenship education, as well as contextual factors that are setting the context for students’ civic learning. It should be noted that within the context of this framework, the term “learning outcomes” is used in a broad way and that it is not intended to confine civic and citizenship education to school learning or any specific theoretical perspective. The way students develop civic knowledge and understanding, as well as affective-behavioral dispositions towards civic and citizenship issues, potentially depends on many factors, including those beyond the learning environment at schools

Stoichiometries and Affinities of Interacting Proteins from Concentration Series of Solution Scattering Data: Decomposition by Least Squares and Quadratic Optimization

In studying interacting proteins, complementary insights are provided by analyzing both the association model (the stoichiometry and affinity constants of the intermediate and final complexes) and the quaternary structure of the resulting complexes. Many current methods for analyzing protein interactions either give a binary answer to the question of association and no information about quaternary structure or at best provide only part of the complete picture. Presented here is a method to extract both types of information from X-ray or neutron scattering data for a series of equilibrium mixtures containing the initial components at different concentrations. The method determines the association pathway and constants, along with the scattering curves of the individual members of the mixture, so as to best explain the scattering data for the mixtures. The derived curves then enable reconstruction of the intermediate and final complexes. Using simulated solution scattering data for four hetero-oligomeric complexes with different structures, molecular weights and association models, it is demonstrated that this method accurately determines the simulated association model and scattering profiles for the initial components and complexes. Recognizing that experimental mixtures contain static contaminants and nonspecific complexes with the lowest affinities (inter-particle interference) as well as the desired specific complex(es), a new analytical method is also employed to extend this approach to evaluating the association models and scattering curves in the presence of static contaminants, testing both a nonparticipating monomer and a large homo-oligomeric aggregate. It is demonstrated that the method is robust to both random noise and systematic noise from such contaminants, and the treatment of nonspecific complexes is discussed. Finally, it is shown that this method is applicable over a large range of weak association constants typical of specific but transient protein-protein complexes