30710873-2740-4e2c-98e8-579a1909b03420220322053443702wseas:wseasmdt@crossref.orgMDT DepositEARTH SCIENCES AND HUMAN CONSTRUCTIONS10.37394/232024https://wseas.com/journals/eshc/112021112021110.37394/232024.2021.1https://wseas.com/journals/eshc/2021.phpTetiana V.LisovaDepartment of Applied Mathematics and Educational Measurement Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University Krapivianskogo 2, Nizhyn, 16600 UKRAINEYuriy O.KovalchukDepartment of Applied Mathematics and Educational Measurement Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University Krapivianskogo 2, Nizhyn, 16600 UKRAINEThe purpose of the paper is in-depth analysis of gender differences in Ukrainian student achievement in mathematics and science on TIMSS 2011 results because the average scores similarity hides some significant differences between the achievements of boys and girls. Boys significantly outperform girls in some cognitive and content domains, while the benefit of girls never was significant. The procedure of Differential Item Functioning (DIF) on the basis of the Mantel-Haenszel method was used to test the fairness of assessment. The results show that the set of TIMSS 2011 items does not have any gender bias on Ukrainian students since there are insignificant number of items with large DIF, among which some favouring boys, and some favouring girls. Each of gender groups is equally represented among both stronger and weaker participants. Any significant relationship between the DIF size and the difficulty or type of the item is not detected. But the items in number, physics and earth science, and math problems on applying function in favour of boys. This is likely caused by the fact that in Ukrainian society still there is attitude to such fields of study as masculine.8162021816202144498https://wseas.com/journals/eshc/2021/a16eshc-008(2021).pdf10.37394/232024.2021.1.8https://wseas.com/journals/eshc/2021/a16eshc-008(2021).pdfKovtunets V.V., Rakov S.A. (Ed.) Research of quality of competitive selection of university students on the results of an independent external evaluation: analytical materials, Кiev: Nora-Druk, 2015. 10.1080/1380361960020102Johnson S., The contribution of large-scale assessment programmes to research on gender differences. Educational Research and Evaluation, Vol.2, No.1, 1996, pp. 25-49. 10.2304/eerj.2009.8.1.69Lafontaine D., Monseur C. Gender gap in comparative studies of reading comprehension: to what extent do the test characteristics make a difference? European Educational Research Journal, Vol.8, No.1, 2009, pp. 69-79. 10.1080/15305050902880769Le L.T., Investigating gender Differential Item Functioning across countries and test languages for PISA Science items, International Journal of Testing, Vol.9, No.2, 2009, pp. 122-133. 10.1186/s40536-015-0015-xBaye A., Monseur C., Gender differences in variability and extreme scores in an international context, Large-scale Assessments in Education, Vol.4, No.1, 2016, DOI 10.1186/s40536-015-0015-x. Martin M.O., Mullis I.V.S., Foy P., Stanco G.M., TIMSS 2011 International Results in Science, Chestnut Hill, MA: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College, 2012. Mullis I.V.S., Martin M.O., Foy P., Arora A. TIMSS 2011 International Results in Mathematics, Chestnut Hill, MA: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College, 2012. 10.4324/9780203056905-19Holland P.W., Thayer D.T., Differential item performance and the Mantel-Haenszel procedure. In Wainer H. and Braun H. (ed) Test validity, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1988, pp. 129- 145. 10.1080/15434300701375832Zumbo B.D., Three generations of DIF analyses: considering Where it has been, Where it is now, and Where it is going, Language Assessment Quarterly, Vol.4, No.2, 2007, pp. 223-233. 10.1002/j.2333-8504.2013.tb02334.xDorans N.J., ETS Contributions to the Quantitative Assessment of Item, Test, and Score Fairness, Educational Testing Service: Princeton, New Jersey, 2013. Linacre J.M., A user’s guide to Winsteps, 2010. http://www.winsteps.com/winman/index.htm?g uide.htm. Gierl M.J., Rogers W.T., Klinger D.A. Using statistical and judgmental reviews to identify and interpret DIF, The Alberta Journal of Educational Research, Vol.45, 1999, pp. 353- 376. Abedlaziz N., Ismail W., Hussin Z., Detecting a Gender-Related DIF Using Logistic Regression and Transformed Item Difficulty, US-China Education Review, Vol.5, 2011, pp. 734-744. 10.1080/01411920802042960Sullivan A., Academic self-concept, gender and single-sex schooling, British Educational Research Journal, Vol.35, No.2, 2009, pp. 259- 288.