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Project duration 01.03.2017 - 31.12.2020

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2019 - Teilprojekt "Unterrichtsqualität"

TIMSS is an international comparative school assessment of mathematics and science competencies, comparing elementary school students’ competencies internationally and describing long-term trends in the German and other educational systems. Focus of the joint research project at IFS is the assessment of instructional quality in fourth grade.

Project description

Türkise, kreisförmige Linien und schwarz-türkiser Schriftzug des Projektnamens TIMSS-UQ Fokus Unterrichtsqualität und darunterliegender schwarzer Kachel mit weißen Schriftzug TIMSS 2019

Since 1995, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) runs hthe international comparative Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). As agreed upon by the KMK and BMBF, Germany has been participating in TIMSS since 2007 in fourth grade, with the next assessment in 2019.

Main goal of TIMSS in elementary school is the assessment and international comparison of students’ performance level in mathematics and science and monitoring long-term trends in the German and other educational systems. Additionally, context information assessed from students, parents, teachers and principals allow for international comparative analyses of students’ performance level.

TIMSS 2019 is of special importance since – reacting to changes in teaching and learning processes – data will be assessed electronically (Computer Based Assessment). The shift towards e-media and e-TIMSS allows for administrating innovative and complex item formats, which are authentic and display a high level of interaction. This change makes a highly influential contribution to planning and assessing high quality teaching.

A main goal of the joint research project at IFS is the assessment of instructional quality in mathematics and science and the description of trends in Germany. Furthermore, relations between instructional quality and students’ competence in mathematics and science are investigated as well as differential effects of instructional quality criteria for sub-groups of students.

Lead researcher at IFS

Project management

  • Justine Stang

Project team

  • Chantal Lepper
  • Annika Ohle-Peters

External project partners

The national director of the study in Germany is Prof. Dr. Knut Schwippert (Arbeitsbereich Evaluation von Bildungssystemen, Universität Hamburg).

Network partners

Leibniz-Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik, IPN Kiel

  • Prof. Dr. Olaf Köller
  • Prof. Dr. Mirjam Steffensky
  • Prof. Dr. Aiso Heinze (Mitantragsteller)

Institut für Entwicklung und Erforschung des Mathematikunterrichts, TU Dortmund

  • Prof. Dr. Christoph Selter

Abteilung Bildungsqualität und Evaluation, DIPF Frankfurt am Main

  • Prof. Dr. Frank Goldhammer (Mitantragsteller)
  • Dr. Ulf Kröhne (Mitantragsteller)

Arbeitsbereich Schulpädagogik/Empirische Schulforschung, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

  • Prof. Dr. Tobias C. Stubbe (Mitantragsteller)

Center for Research on Education and School Development, TU Dortmund

  • Dr. Heike Wendt (Mitantragsteller)

Further information

TIMSS und PIRLS Home

Forerunner projects at the IFS

Cafeteria menus

Location & approach

The most convenient highway exits are on the B 1/A 40 (Dortmund-Barop) (closer to the North Campus) and on the A45 (Dortmund-Eichlinghofen). The university is signposted at both exits. In the local road network you will find signs to Campus Nord, where the Campus Treff is also located. From Emil-Figge-Strasse, entrance no. 18 and from Vogelspothsweg entrance no. 23 lead to parking spaces near the venue.

From Dortmund main station, take the S-Bahn "S1" in the direction of Solingen on track 7 to the stop "Dortmund-Universität" (price level A). The S-Bahn runs every 15 minutes during peak hours on weekdays and takes about 6 minutes. From Düsseldorf, the S-Bahn runs every 30 minutes. Directly at the S-Bahn station you will find the CDI building, which houses the Center for Research on Education and School Development.

One of the university's landmarks is the H-Bahn, which has two terminuses on the North Campus. One is located directly above the S-Bahn station and is easily accessible from it by elevators. The other is located in the center of Campus North at the bridge between the University Library and the Mensa, right next to the Audimax. The H-Bahn runs from here to the South Campus and the Eichlinghofen district.

Dortmund has an airport connected with some destinations in Central Europe. There are regular flights, for example, to Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Katowice, Krakow, Leipzig-Halle, London, Munich, Nuremberg, Paris, Poznan, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich. For the approximately 20 kilometers from the Dortmund airport to the campus, you can take the bus to the main train station and from there the S-Bahn. Faster is usually the use of a cab. Far more international flight connections are offered by the Rhine-Ruhr Airport in Düsseldorf, about 60 kilometers away, which can be reached directly by S-Bahn from the university station.