Download TIMSS 2019 Science Framework (pdf)
Science Practices in TIMSS 2019
Scientists engage in scientific inquiry by following key science practices that enable them to investigate the natural world and answer questions about it. Students of science must become proficient at these practices to develop an understanding of how the scientific enterprise is conducted. These practices include skills from daily life and school studies that students use in a systematic way to conduct scientific inquiry. The science practices are fundamental to all science disciplines. Five practices that are fundamental to scientific inquiry are represented in TIMSS 2019:
- Asking questions based on observations—Scientific inquiry includes observations of phenomena in the natural world. These observations, when considered together with theory, lead to questions, which are used to formulate testable hypotheses to help answer those questions.
- Generating evidence—Testing hypotheses requires designing and executing systematic investigations and controlled experiments in order to generate evidence to support or refute the hypothesis. Scientists relate their theories to properties that can be observed or measured in order to determine the evidence to be gathered, the equipment and procedures needed to collect the evidence, and the measurements to be recorded.
- Working with data—Once the data are collected, scientists summarize it in various types of visual displays and describe or interpret patterns in the data and explore relationships between variables.
- Answering the research question—Scientists use evidence from observations and investigations, together with their theories to answer questions and support or refute hypotheses.
- Making an argument from evidence—Scientists use evidence together with science knowledge to construct explanations, justify and support the reasonableness of their explanations and conclusions, and extend their conclusions to new situations.
These science practices are assessed in the context of one of the science content domains, and by drawing upon the range of thinking processes specified in the cognitive domains. Some items in the TIMSS 2019 science assessment at both the fourth and eighth grades assess one or more of these important science practices as well as content specified in the content domains and thinking processes specified in the cognitive domains.