Content and Cognitive Domains (Grade 4)

Fifty percent of the fourth-grade assessment was devoted to the number content domain apportioned as follows: whole numbers (25%); expressions, simple equations, and relationships (15%); and fractions and decimals (10%). Whole numbers was the predominant category for the fourth-grade mathematics assessment, comprising addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as well as recognition of number properties including place value. Pre-algebra concepts included introduction to unknowns (variables) in simple equations and relating quantities. Students were asked to compare, round, and conduct simple computations with fractions and decimals.

Thirty percent of the assessment was devoted to measurement and geometry (15% per topic). Measurement included measuring and relating lengths and quantities of mass, calculating areas and perimeters of simple polygons, and using cubes to determine volumes. Geometry included describing and drawing a variety of geometric figures and using geometric relationships to solve problems, as well as identifying the properties and characteristics of lines, angles, and a variety of two- and three-dimensional shapes.

The remaining 20 percent of the assessment was devoted to the data content domain, which consisted of two topic areas: reading and displaying data (10%) and interpreting, combining, and comparing data (10%). Data items required reading various forms of data displays, creating or completing data in graphs and charts, and interpreting data from multiple sources to draw conclusions.

The TIMSS 2023 Mathematics Framework also specifies the range of cognitive skills measured by the mathematics assessment across the content domains described above. The cognitive skills are categorized into three broad domains—knowing, applying, and reasoning. Forty percent of the fourth-grade assessment was devoted to the knowing cognitive domain, 40 percent to applying, and 20 percent to reasoning. The knowing domain included accessing straightforward facts, concepts, and procedures through recall, simple computation, or classification. The applying domain focused on students’ ability to act upon knowledge and conceptual understanding to devise strategies, implement them, and represent results. The reasoning domain targeted skills beyond solving familiar problems that may have been routinely practiced in mathematics lessons to encompass generalizations to unfamiliar situations, justifying approaches used, and integration across multistep problems.