Publication of KISDI basic research (21-06): Study on the means of providing ICT educational support to disadvantaged segments of the population to revitalize the national digital economy.

“Discussion on improving equal educational opportunities in science and technology”

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Empirical analysis of students’ academic performance in mathematics and science reveals that a huge gap in basic competency exists depending on the amount invested in private education and also the region.

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“Differences in social classes lead to gaps in mathematics and science competencies. The gap in mathematics and science competencies must be narrowed by providing basic ICT training and education opportunities for the disadvantaged.”

▲ Create an experience-based learning environment for elementary/middle school mathematics and science courses and resolve the gap in educational infrastructure using the Metaverse.

▲ Utilize AI-based educational services and improve the mathematics and science competency of students from disadvantaged groups.

▲ Develop tailored educational policies, for example, construction of the basic infrastructure for teaching science and technology to students in poor neighborhoods, and improvement of the educational environment.

KISDI (President Kwon Ho-yeol) recently published the KISDI basic research (21-06) report: ‘Study on the means of providing ICT educational support to disadvantaged segments of the population in order to revitalize the nation’s digital economy’.

As the spread of the COVID-19 virus is forcing schools to close and increasing the importance of remote learning, this situation can only aggravate the education gap in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects. In the STEM field, learning through experience-centered and inquiry activities is very important, but this kind of learning is heavily dependent on the educational infrastructure. With remote learning, it is close to impossible to provide this kind of experience-oriented learning. Of course, students from well-to-do families are not greatly affected because they can make up for these shortcomings through private lessons. However, students from disadvantaged groups do not have access to remote learning because they often cannot afford smart devices. For these students, deficiencies in their education accumulate, leading to lower academic achievement.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, the role of public education will shrink and the role of households will increase accordingly. As such, gaps in student competencies in subjects like science and mathematics will increase, depending on household background factors like income. When one considers the extent to which the core competencies of many jobs in the digital society of the future, and especially ICT jobs with high salaries, are based on mathematics and science skills, the gaps in students' mathematics and science training will lead to such issues as discrepancies in ICT job selection and the skills required to carry out such jobs, and dissatisfaction with one’s income level, in the long term. Therefore, in order to improve the equality of educational opportunities in the STEM field, more attention and support must be provided to disadvantaged students who are often denied such opportunities.

This report empirically analyzes the educational gap in the STEM field and suggests solutions for resolving inequality in educational opportunities. The key conclusions of the report are summarized as follows.

First, a quantitative analysis of OECD international student assessment (PISA, Program of International Student Assessment) data led to the conclusion that, all other conditions being equal, the grades of female students are statistically lower than those of male students, and parental expenditure on private lessons for their children produces results that are very statistically significant. It could also be concluded that the higher the level of expenditure for private lessons, the greater the impact on academic grades. In addition, when analyzing the impact of region on students’ academic achievements in cities and non-metropolitan areas, it was determined that in rural regions (rural, small, and large towns) differences in school characteristics had the greatest impact on grades for science and mathematics. In cities, the differences in the socioeconomic background of households, including expenditure on private lessons, had the greatest impact on grades. In particular, even if the difference in other characteristics is controlled in cities, female students' mathematics and science grades are lower than those of male students, and in cities, the difference in hierarchical characteristics further increases the deviation in students’ grades. Especially in cities, the mathematics and science grades of female students are lower than those of male students (even when other characteristic differences are kept to a minimum). Because of this, in cities, the differences in social class characteristics further increased the gap in student grades.

The overall conclusion is that differences in the socioeconomic status of families, gender, and regional differences are important factors when attempting to explain the gap in students’ academic achievements. It was also quantitatively verified that, depending on the size of the region, different factors cause the gap in grades, and there are also differences in the degree to which such factors affect the grades.

This report recommends the introduction of the following measures to narrow the gap in the mathematics and science grades of students from disadvantaged social groups:

▲ Create an experience-based learning environment for elementary/middle school mathematics and science courses by using the Metaverse.

▲ Utilize AI-based educational services to improve the mathematics and science proficiency of students from disadvantaged classes, and expand educational opportunities for them.

▲ Expand the infrastructure for science, mathematics and digital education and improve the skills of teachers and other teaching-related staff.

▲ Develop education support policies that are tailored to the educational environment of each region.

Assistant Research Fellow Choi Ji-eun said, “South Korea is preparing policy solutions to address the educational achievement gap of students in science and technology. But the existing government policies on science and technology education are oriented towards the training of elite scientists and technologists. There is still a lack of awareness about the educational gap in the STEM fields and the preparations are insufficient.” She added, “It is time to think about improving the equality of education opportunity in science and technology in order to address concerns that the factors behind the gap in mathematics and science competencies will lead to educational gaps and income inequalities.”