Assessing the psychosocial environment of science classes in Catholic secondary schools

Much Catholic school and church rhetoric suggests that Catholic schools possess distinctive learning environments. Research into this aspect of Catholic schooling has been hampered by the lack of an appropriate assessment instrument. By drawing on contemporary church literature, the perceptions of personnel involved in Catholic education and existing classroom environment questionnaires, a new instrument was developed to assess student perceptions of classroom psychosocial environment in Catholic schools. The use of this instrument in 64 classrooms in Catholic and Government schools indicated significant differences on some scales. The distinctive nature of Catholic schooling did not extend to all classroom environment dimensions deemed important to Catholic education. Specializations: Catholic education, learning environments. Specializations: conceptual change in students, science teacher professional development, scientific reasoning, learning environments. Specializations: learning environments, science education, educational evaluation, curriculum.     

Development of an instrument for assessing the psychosocial environment of science laboratory classes

Conclusion This paper attempts to stimulate and facilitate future research and practical applications involving the psychosocial environment of science laboratory classrooms by describing the development of a new instrument, the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), which assesses eight dimensions of the actual and preferred environment of science laboratory classes at the upper secondary school and higher education levels. Comprehensive validation information reported here in tentatively attests to the internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity of the actual and preferred forms of the SLEI for use in Australian or American classrooms. As well, further analyses supported the ability of the actual form of the SLEI to differentiate between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. It is hoped that science teachers and other researchers will make use of the SLEI to pursue several research and practical applications analogous to those completed successfully in prior work in non-laboratory classrooms.     

Cultural communication learning environment in science classes

Classroom communication often involves interactions between students and teachers from dissimilar cultures, which influence classroom learning because of their dissimilar communication styles influenced by their cultures. It is therefore important to study the influence of culture on classroom communication that influences the classroom verbal and nonverbal interactions. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a new instrument to assess eight scales of students?? classroom communication learning environment: Body Language, Communication Rate, Communication Loudness, Eye Contact, English Usage, Verbal Support, Intra-gender Communication and Inter-gender Communication. The instrument was administered to 1,723 upper-secondary biology students in Brunei government schools. The alpha reliability (0.58?C0.91) and discrimination validity (0.08?C0.13) coefficients for these scales were within acceptable ranges. Statistically significant ??² coefficients suggested that the instrument was able to differentiate between participating biology classes. Students perceived a low level verbal support and sometimes higher teacher communication rate in their classes. Dialects other than English, which is the medium of instruction, have been used in biology classes to some extent. There is a strong tendency for intra-gender than inter-gender communications in classes, which could limit the effectiveness of teaching and learning in constructivist classes     

Associations between school-level environment and science classroom environment in secondary schools

This article describes a study of links between school environment and science classroom environment. Instruments to assess seven dimensions of school environment (viz., Empowerment, Student Support, Affiliation, Professional Interest, Mission Consensus, Resource Adequacy and Work Pressure) and seven dimensions of classroom environment (viz., Student Affiliation, Interactions, Cooperation, Task Orientation, Order & Organisation, Individualisati n and Teacher Control) in secondary school science classrooms were developed and validated. The study involved a sample of 1,318 students in 64 year 9 and year 12 science classes and 128 teachers of science in Australian secondary schools. Using the class mean as the unit of analysis for student data, associations between school and classroom environment were investigated using simple, multiple and canonical correlational analyses. In general, results indicated weak relationships between school and classroom environments and they reinforced the view that characteristics of the school environment are not transmitted automatically into science classrooms.     

Taking working memory training from the laboratory into schools

Working memory skills have been shown to be enhanced by adaptive training in several randomised controlled trials. Here, two field trials were conducted in which teachers administered working memory training to their own pupils in school. Twenty-two children aged 8–9?years participated in Trial 1. In Trial 2, 50 children aged 9–11?years with the lowest academic performance completed training. They were matched with a group of 50 children who were not trained. Following training, children in Trial 1 improved significantly in both trained and untrained working memory tasks, with effect sizes comparable to those reported in research studies. Improvements on the trained tasks in Trial 2 were comparable, and training was associated with significantly greater progress at school across the academic year in maths and English. These findings indicate that teacher-administered training leads to generalised and robust gains in working memory and educationally significant gains in academic performance.     

Assessment of the laboratory learning environment in an inquiry-oriented chemistry laboratory in Arab and Jewish high schools in Israel

An inquiry-oriented laboratory in chemistry was integrated into the chemistry curriculum in Jewish high schools in Israel, and after a short period was also implemented in Arab sector. In this study, we investigated the effect of culture on the perceptions of laboratory classroom learning environments by comparing the perceptions of Arab and Jewish high school students who learned the inquiry-oriented chemistry laboratory. The learning environment is influenced by student-teacher relationship and we thought that this relation is an important issue in the inquiry laboratory and is different between the Arab and Jewish populations. However, until recently, the Arab teachers have remained in the centre of the learning process and their students perceived them as the main source of knowledge and information. In this study, we used both quantitative and qualitative methods to determine whether the laboratory learning environment was different in Arab and Jewish classes that learned in the inquiry-oriented laboratory in chemistry. A statistical comparison of Arab and Jewish inquiry groups revealed significant differences in their actual and preferred perceptions. From the qualitative part of the study, we found that the teachers and students from the Arab and Jewish sectors were statistically similar in the categories that we measured during the inquiry phase, but they were statistically different during the pre-inquiry phase of the laboratory. From the interviews with the teachers and the students, we found that there were differences in the student-teacher relationship between the two sectors.     

Student control ideology and the science classroom environment in urban secondary schools of sudan

An examination was made concerning the relationships between Sudanese secondary science teachers' pupil control ideology and their students' perceptions/observations of the psychosocial environment of their science classrooms. One hundred secondary science teachers were classified as possessing humanistic (N = 20) or custodial (N = 20) control ideologies. A class (N = 40) of students was randomly selected for every teacher in both groups. The findings revealed that no significant relationships existed between the control ideologies of the teachers and their students' perceptions/observations of the classroom environment. Custodialism in control ideology was significantly related to the classroom environment psychosocial aspect of low “support.” Discussion and implications of the findings have been approached from both Sudanese and American perspectives.     

Comparison of personal and class forms of the science laboratory environment inventory

Existing instruments in classroom environment research have limitations when subgroups are investigated or case studies of individual students conducted. This study reports the validation and development of a personal form of the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory which is better suited to such studies. Further, systematic differences between scores on the class and personal forms of the instrument are reported along with comparisons of their associations with inquiry skill and attitudinal outcomes. Specializations: Science education, Preservice science teacher education. Specializations: Learning environments, science education, educational evaluation, curriculum. Specializations: Curriculum, science education, science laboratory teaching.     

中学思想政治课渗透邓小平理论教育初探

中学思想政治课渗透邓小平理论教育是由下列因素决定的：邓小平理论的历史地位和时代意义、现阶段我国人民的共同理想有青少年学生肩负的历史使命、该课程的地位作用及其所承担的任务，同时也是全面推进素质教育的需要；从教材内容、学生心理特征、邓小平理论的特点及新编教材的指导思想看，中学思想政治课不但能够，而且内在要求渗透邓小平理论教育；章还从提高认识、坚定信念、突出重点、抓住精神实质、密切联系实际、讲究方式方法等方面探讨了中学思想政治课如何渗透邓小平论教育的问题。     

Assessment of the psychosocial environment of university science laboratory classrooms: a cross-national study

A strong tradition in educational research has involved several widely-used instruments assessing student or teacher perceptions of characteristics of actual or preferred classroom psychosocial environment. Existing instruments, however, are unsuitable for one of the most important settings in science teaching, namely, the science laboratory class. Consequently, the present research aimed to develop and validate a new instrument, the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), which is specifically suited to science laboratory environments at the higher education level. The SLEI assesses students' or teachers' perceptions of five dimensions of actual or preferred classroom environment, namely, Student Cohesiveness, Open-Endedness, Integration, Rule Clarity, and Material Environment. A distinctive feature of the design of the study was that the instrument was field tested and validated cross-nationally in six different countries, namely, the USA, Canada, Australia, England, Israel, and Nigeria. The total sample consisted of 1720 students in 71 university laboratory classes. Various item and factor analyses guided the evolution of a refined version, and attested to each SLEI scale's internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity, factorial validity, predictive validity (i.e., ability to predict student outcomes), and ability to differentiate between the perceptions of students in different classes. An important finding was that the SLEI is equally valid for use in its actual and preferred versions, and for the individual or the class mean as the unit of analysis. As well, separate within-country analyses confirmed the validity and usefulness of the SLEI in each of the six countries involved in the field testing. Overall, the study attested to the general advantages of employing cross-national designs in learning environment research.     

论高校文科生现代科学技术教育的必要性

现代科学技术的教育对科生的综合素质、创新能力、思维能力培养是一种很好途径。     

Student perceptions of the cell biology laboratory learning environment in four undergraduate science courses in Spain

Cell biology is an academic discipline that organises and coordinates the learning of the structure, function and molecular composition of cells in some undergraduate biomedical programs. Besides course content and teaching methodologies, the laboratory environment is considered a key element in the teaching of and learning of cell biology. The aim of this study was to determine students’ opinions about the quality of the teaching and learning environment in cell biology laboratory practice. For this study, we used a short form of the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), which we adapted and translated into Spanish. The questionnaire, administered to students enrolled in four undergraduate programs, consisted of 24 questions divided into four scales: integration of content, clarity of laboratory rules, cohesion between students and teachers, and quality of laboratory infrastructures and materials. The results suggested that (1) students positively assessed the learning environment provided for cell biology practice, (2) the short Spanish form of the SLEI was a valid, reliable instrument for evaluating student satisfaction, laboratory activities, the degree of cooperation between students and teachers, and theoretical and practical organisation of content and (3) the questionnaire detected differential perceptions of the learning environment based on gender and the program studied.     

Towards a pragmatic science in schools

This paper contrasts naive beliefs about the nature of science, with science as it appears from sociological and philosophical study, feminist critique and insights from multicultural education. I draw implications from these informed views to suggest how school science might be modified to project a pragmatic view of science to its students that allows students to know science and its relationships to themselves and society in multi-faceted ways. From these perspectives, pragmatic school science is situated within a values framework that questions how we know. Pragmatic school science also requires that the naive inductivist views that permeate school science inquiry methods at present be modified to recognise that observations and inquiry are guided by prior knowledge and values; that new knowledge is tentative; that some knowledge has high status, as it has been constructed consensually over a long period; but that even high status knowledge can be challenged. For implementation of these reforms, yet still to embrace the need for some students to appropriate understanding of discipline knowledge required for advanced science education, a broad set of aims is required.     

Physical and psychosocial aspects of the learning environment in the science laboratory and their relationship to teacher satisfaction

This paper is a report of a survey conducted to determine teachers’ perception of the science laboratory learning environment and the relationship between different aspects of this environment and satisfaction from teaching and learning. Teachers’ perceptions of psychosocial aspects were measured by use of the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), whereas perceptions of physical aspects were measured by use of the Physical Science Laboratory Environment Inventory. The level of satisfaction was measured by use of a satisfaction scale (SC). Data were collected from 800 science teachers in secondary schools in Malaysia. Analysis of findings revealed that teachers have positive attitudes on all SLEI scales, with the exception of the open-ended scale. In terms of physical aspects, teachers regard lighting and technology as highly important but furniture and equipment, space, air quality and safety as of moderate importance only. Results also showed that teachers’ satisfaction from teaching in the laboratory was positive. Subsequent analysis revealed a significant predictive relationship between teachers’ perception of science laboratory learning environments and their teaching and learning satisfaction.     

Monitoring learning-disabled students in mainstream science classes

While science classes are believed to be interactive learning environments, offering varied ways for students to learn, some experts believe that learning disabled (LD) students should be monitored closely in such settings because of difficulties adjusting to the social, behavioral, and academic demands. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether LD fourth and sixth graders show difficulties adjusting to the demands of their mainstream science classes and to investigate two means of assessing LD students’ functioning in these classes: paired questionnaires for teachers and students and a science curriculum-based assessment (CBA). Subjects include 31 fourth graders (9 LD) and 38 sixth graders (13 LD). Results show that the LD students had significant weaknesses on some subtests of the science CBA relative to their peers; additionally, they rated themselves and were rated by their teachers significantly more negatively than their Non-LD peers. These results suggest the potential value of monitoring LD students in mainstream science classes. Case studies of LD students reveal mismatches in the perception of the student and teacher regarding the student’s adjustment and classroom habits. Examination of these case studies is used to suggest ways in which the collaboration of student and teacher as well as regular and special education teachers might aid the student.