Analysis on ability of explaining natural phenomena with using sentences and figures

本研究的目的是掌握中小学生运用句子和图形来解释和表达科学中自然现象的实际能力。本研究将国际教育成就评估协会（IEA）第三次国际数学与科学研究（TIMSS）中每个学生用于解决科学自由回答项目的陈述或句子输入到小学和初中的数据库中。3^< 4^< 1 ^ 1年级小学生13个自由回答题的全部解。其中，与物理/化学相关的题项为3项（小学E）/10项（初中LS），与生物相关的题项为6项(E)/7项（LS），与地球科学相关的题项为2项(E)/4项（LS），与科学方法相关的题项为2项(E)/1项（LS）。两个年级的学生人数分别为小学约1,100人和初中约1,300人。同时，对日澳两国中小学生的解决方案进行了详细的分析，选取了3个项目，以便与澳大利亚参与TIMSS的数据进行比较。很明显，这两个国家在图片的质量和句子的长度上几乎没有什么不同。

The purpose of this research was to grasp the actual ability of explaining and expressing natural phenomena in science by using sentences as well as figures among the elementary and lower secondary school students.In this research, statements or sentences that each pupil/student used to solve the science free response items in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study(TIMSS) of International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)were inputted and turned to a database in the elementary and lower secondary schools. All the solutions of 13 free response items for 3^<rd> and 4^<th> graders in the elementary school.The items could be classified to the several fields of science content, 3 items(elementary : E)/10 items(lower secondary : LS) were related to physics/chemistry, 6 items(E)/7 items(LS) were related to biology, 2 items(E)/4 items(LS) were related to earth science, 2 items (E)/1 item(LS) were related to scientific method. The number of pupils/students of both grades were respectively about 1,100 for elementary school and about 1,300 for lower secondary school.At the same time, it was reported the detailed analysis of the solution of the elementary/lower secondary school students in the Japanese-Australian two nations was conducted on 3 selected items in order to compare with the data of Australia participated in TIMSS.It became clear that almost there is not a difference between the two nations in the quality of fugures/pictures and length of sentence.