Explaining Waldorf students’ high motivation but moderate achievement in science: is inquiry-based science education the key?

Large-scale Assessments in Education

An IERI – International Educational Research Institute Journal

Table 1 Univariate findings before matching for covariates (PISA 2015; N = 7007)

Construct	WS (N = 149)		Non WS (N = 6858)			% Missing values before imputation
Construct	M	SD	M	SD	d (WS-RS)	WS	non WS
Covariates for propensity score matching
Gender (1 = female/0 = male)	0.55 (0.04)	0.50	0.50 (0.01)	0.50	0.11	0	0
Immigration background (1 = yes/0 = no)	0.17 (0.03)	0.38	0.20 (0.01)	0.40	− 0.08	1.31	1.33
Index of parental education in years of schooling	15.73 (0.20)	2.39	14.05 (0.05)	2.47	0.68	2.60	2.50
Index of parental occupational status	67.51 (1.42)	17.13	50.77 (0.47)	21.19	0.79	1.94	6.35
Index of cultural possessions at home	1.06 (0.09)	1.06	0.09 (0.02)	1.03	0.94	0.65	1.44
Analysis variables for mediation modeling
Inquiry-based science instruction	0.68 (0.09)	0.95	− 0.30 (0.03)	1.09	0.89	14.84	21.13
Enjoyment of science	0.26 (0.09)	1.10	− 0.34 (0.02)	1.25	0.48	6.83	7.34
Interest in broad science topics	0.53 (0.09)	0.72	0.05 (0.06)	0.99	0.48	9.71	10.11
Science achievement	503.30 (6.57)	75.98	495.02 (2.44)	97.38	0.09	0	0

Results are based on imputed manifest scores weighted by PISA total student weight. Standard errors are in parentheses. Cohen’s d is computed relative with the SD of the weighted total Austrian PISA 2015 sample before matching. Scores for science achievement are based on plausible values. Scores for all other analysis variables are based on Warm’s Mean Weighted Likelihood Estimates (WLE). WLEs and the index of cultural possessions at home were z-standardized based on all OECD countries (OECD M = 0, SD = 1). Plausible values were standardized across the OECD countries in 2006 (M = 500; SD = 100). The index of parental occupational status has a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 89
WS Waldorf students