The classroom learning environment as perceived by students in Arab elementary schools

In this study, students’ perceptions of the classroom learning environment in Arab elementary schools were investigated. The sample included 261 students from Grades 5 and 6. The questionnaire was developed at an Arab college of teacher education by 16 fourth-year student teachers who were completing their studies toward a BEd degree. Articles on classroom learning environment were distributed to the students, who then wrote items to assess learning environment. The items were evaluated for content validity in relation to the Arab school culture, language, teachers’ teaching, students’ learning styles, teacher–student relations, order and organisation, discipline and behaviours. The Classroom Learning Environment of Elementary Students (CLEES) questionnaire consists of 32 items in four scales: Teacher’s Image, Group Work, Students’ Participation, and Order and Organisation. The CLEES was used in a pilot study in two Grade 5 and 6 classes in order to validate it. The student teachers administered the questionnaire to students in elementary schools. Data were analysed using SPSS (e.g. factor analysis and one-way ANOVA) to validate the CLEES. No significant differences were found between boys and girls in classroom learning environment. However, significant differences in CLEES perceptions were found between students from different grades (Grade 5 vs. Grade 6), age groups and schools. The results are explained in the discussion section in relation to the characteristics of their schools.     

Asking students their opinions of the learning environment: an empirical analysis of elementary classroom climate

There is currently a lack of research into classroom climate as perceived by the students themselves. This article presents a new classroom climate evaluation instrument which is designed to gauge student perceptions of their own level of engagement in academic activities, their relationships with peers, and the level of support they feel from their teachers. The Classroom Climate Index was pilot tested with a group of 105 elementary students aged 8–12. The pilot data were factor analysed, and the instrument was refined accordingly. Following the pilot test, the refined instrument was next administered to a larger sample of 2340 elementary students. Data from the comprehensive study were subjected to factor and reliability analyses, the results of which support the use of the Classroom Climate Index in measuring student engagement, supportive teacher behaviour, and collegial support from the student perspective.     

Engaging elementary students in learning science: an analysis of classroom dialogue

Research over a long period of time has continued to demonstrate problems in the teaching of science in school. In addition, declining levels of participation and interest in science and related fields have been reported from many particularly western countries. Among the strategies suggested is the recruitment of professional scientists and technologists either at the graduate level or advanced career level to change career and teach. In this study, we analysed how one beginning middle primary teacher engaged with students to support their science learning by establishing rich classroom discussions. We followed his evolving teaching expertise over three years focussing on his communicative practices informed by socio-cultural theory. His practices exemplified a non-interactive dialogical communicative approach where ideas were readily discussed but were concentrated on the class acquiring acceptable scientific understandings. His focus on the language of science was a significant aspect of his practice and one that emerged from his professional background. The study affirms the theoretical frameworks proposed by Mortimer and Scott (Meaning making in secondary science classrooms, 2003) highlighting how dialogue contributes to heightened student interest in science.     

Cooperative learning in elementary schools

Cooperative learning refers to instructional methods in which students work in small groups to help each other learn. Although cooperative learning methods are used for different age groups, they are particularly popular in elementary (primary) schools. This article discusses methods and theoretical perspectives on cooperative learning for the elementary grades. The article acknowledges the contributions from each of the major theoretical perspectives and places them in a model that depicts the likely role each plays in cooperative learning outcomes. This work explores conditions under which each perspective may operate, and suggests further research needed to advance cooperative learning scholarship.     

Investigating the impact of flexible furniture in the elementary classroom

Learning Environments Research - Educators are beginning to consider the physical learning environment as an additional resource in meeting learning outcomes in modern classrooms. In order to...     

Engagement profiles of elementary students in urban schools

This study identified engagement profiles and examined their relations to student characteristics (gender, grade, socioeconomic status) as well as mathematics and reading achievement among elementary students attending urban schools in the southeastern part of the United States (N = 564). Using latent profile analysis, four engagement profiles were identified including a Moderately Engaged, Globally Disengaged, Affectively Disengaged, and Behaviorally Disengaged profile. Subsequent analyses showed that grade level was a statistically significant predictor of profile membership, and the Moderately Engaged profile was associated with higher mathematics achievement compared to the Affectively Disengaged profile. Results contribute to the growing body of person-centered work that indicates that students’ engagement cluster into unique configurations of global, behavioral, affective, cognitive, and social engagement, which have important implications for their academic achievement.     

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.     

小学数学实践活动的特点

实践活动课程以综合、开放、灵活多变的教学内容与形式,改变了传统教学中重学科知识而轻综合应用、重抽象思维而轻实践技能等不良倾向,有利于学生主体性的发挥。《数学课程标准》(实验稿)明确地将“实践与综合应用”作为与“数与代数”、“空间与图形”、“统计与概率”相并列的学习领域,其目的是增强学生应用数学的意识,提高学生的实践能力,为今后更有效地进行高水平的实践活动打好基础。本文着重谈谈小学数学实践活动的特点。数学实践活动是学生在教师引导下,在已有知识体验的基础上,从所熟悉的现实生活中发现、选择和确定问题,主动应用知…     

小学数字实践活动的特点

实践活动课程以综合、开放、灵活多变的教学内容与形式。改变了传统教学中重学科知识而轻综合应用、重抽象思维而轻实践技能等不良倾向，有利于学生主体性的发挥。     

小学开展研究性学习的尝试与探索

本从理论和实践两方面论证了小学生进行研究性学习的可行性，指出了指导小学生开展研究性学习的自主性、个性化、生活化、活动化、激励性等原则，并从实践中总结出在小学开展研究性学习的的基本途径及注意事项。     

山区农村小学生心理健康状况及其影响因素研究

小学生心理健康状况一直是心理学重点研究的领域,为了了解山区农村小学生心理健康现状,我们对538名山区农村小学生进行了问卷调查,结果显示:山区农村小学生整体心理健康水平较好,但也存在着不容忽视的问题.主要表现出高学习焦虑、自责倾向和恐怖倾向,并男女生比较差异显著;在对人焦虑、孤独倾向、恐怖倾向分量表上,年级得分有显著差异.家庭环境、父母教养方式、学习压力等,是山区农村小学生心理健康水平的影响因素.     

Investigating a learning progression for energy ideas from upper elementary through high school

This study tests a hypothesized learning progression for the concept of energy. It looks at 14 specific ideas under the categories of (i) Energy Forms and Transformations; (ii) Energy Transfer; (iii) Energy Dissipation and Degradation; and (iv) Energy Conservation. It then examines students’ growth of understanding within each of these ideas at three levels of increasing conceptual complexity. The basic level of the model focuses on simple energy relationships and easily observable effects of energy processes; the intermediate level focuses on more complex energy concepts and applications; and the advanced level focuses on still more complex energy concepts, often requiring an atomic/molecular model to explain phenomena. The study includes results from 359 distractor‐driven, multiple‐choice test items administered to over 20,000 students in grades 4 through 12 from across the U.S. Rasch analysis provided linear measures of student performance and item difficulty on the same scale. Results largely supported a model of students’ growth of understanding that progresses from an understanding of forms and transformations of energy to energy transfer to conservation while also progressing along a separate dimension of cognitive complexity. An analysis of the current state of students’ understanding with respect to the knowledge identified in the learning progression showed that elementary level students perform well in comparison to expectations but that middle and high school students’ performance does not meet expectations. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 55: 68–93, 2018     

Individual, family, and neighborhood factors distinguish resilient from non-resilient maltreated children: a cumulative stressors model

OBJECTIVE: Children who are physically maltreated are at risk of a range of adverse outcomes in childhood and adulthood, but some children who are maltreated manage to function well despite their history of adversity. Which individual, family, and neighborhood characteristics distinguish resilient from non-resilient maltreated children? Do children's individual strengths promote resilience even when children are exposed to multiple family and neighborhood stressors (cumulative stressors model)? METHODS: Data were from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Study which describes a nationally representative sample of 1,116 twin pairs and their families. Families were home-visited when the twins were 5 and 7 years old, and teachers provided information about children's behavior at school. Interviewers rated the likelihood that children had been maltreated based on mothers' reports of harm to the child and child welfare involvement with the family. RESULTS: Resilient children were those who engaged in normative levels of antisocial behavior despite having been maltreated. Boys (but not girls) who had above-average intelligence and whose parents had relatively few symptoms of antisocial personality were more likely to be resilient versus non-resilient to maltreatment. Children whose parents had substance use problems and who lived in relatively high crime neighborhoods that were low on social cohesion and informal social control were less likely to be resilient versus non-resilient to maltreatment. Consistent with a cumulative stressors model of children's adaptation, individual strengths distinguished resilient from non-resilient children under conditions of low, but not high, family and neighborhood stress. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that for children residing in multi-problem families, personal resources may not be sufficient to promote their adaptive functioning.     

小组合作学习在小学美术教学中的运用

小组合作学习指的是在教学过程中,教师根据学生的具体实际和课程的学习任务把班级的同学划分为若干小组,小组的成员通过师生、生生合作,有组织地进行自学、讨论、交流和操作等形式,共同完成学习任务。小组合作学习以其可以把学生的自主学习和合作学习结合起来的优势,成为美术教     

Exploring the impact of written reflections on learning in the elementary mathematics classroom

The authors examined the implementation of written reflections in a Grade 4 mathematics classroom over the course of 8 weeks. Students in this case study engaged in a workshop modeled after Calkin's Writers' Workshop and within this workshop the use of writing as a reflective tool in mathematics was introduced. The authors explore how students used writing to evaluate their learning and how the teacher used the students' written reflections as a formative assessment for instructional purposes. Students' written reflections were coded and these codes were used to conduct an inductive thematic analysis. Analysis of written reflections via constant-comparison analysis was used for further differentiation. The findings show students' ability to accurately self-evaluate their problem-solving skills and highlighted students' confidence level with certain mathematical concepts. Teachers were able to use students' reflections as a place to begin conferring with a student for further clarification. The written reflections aided in instructional decisions and increased individual instruction when needed. The authors include implications for teacher practice and areas for future research.     

Investigating the effect of school‐wide positive behavioral interventions and supports on student learning and behavioral problems in elementary and middle schools

Many states have scaled up School‐Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SW‐PBIS) with the goal of improving student behavior and academic outcomes. Although the effects of SW‐PBIS on behavioral and discipline outcomes have been promising, the findings for academic achievement have been inconclusive and are often limited to cross‐sectional data. This paper examined the longitudinal effect of SW‐PBIS on student behavioral problems and academic achievement growth in elementary and middle schools using propensity score matching. We found no statistically significant longitudinal effects of SW‐PBIS on either student behavior problems or academic achievement among elementary and middle schools in this quasi‐experimental design, even though the positive direction of longitudinal changes would be identified. The result raised questions about the efficacy of SW‐PBIS using a statewide achievement test when scaled up to a state level. Additional research is needed to better understand the impact of SW‐PBIS using rigorous scale‐up designs.     

Investigating the role of the HLTA in supporting learning in English schools

The development of support staff was a key aspect of the Labour government’s reform of the school workforce in England. As part of this strategy approximately 25,000 Teaching Assistants (TAs) gained Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) status and were deployed in schools in a variety of roles, often operating in a quasi-teaching role. The research re-visits individuals who had acquired HLTA status between 2006 and 2009 and had participated in a questionnaire survey regarding their role at that time. A duplicate questionnaire was distributed in 2013 to 305 of these HLTAs and was followed up in 2014 by focus groups with self-selecting individuals from the original sample. To date there has been little research relating to the development of the HLTA role and the implications this has for both teachers and pupils, particularly in terms of provision for the most vulnerable learners.     

How teaching science using project-based learning strategies affects the classroom learning environment

This study involved 458 ninth-grade students from two different Arab middle schools in Israel. Half of the students learned science using project-based learning strategies and the other half learned using traditional methods (non-project-based). The classes were heterogeneous regarding their achievements in the sciences. The adapted questionnaire contained 38 statements concerning students’ perceptions of the science classroom climate. The results of the study revealed that students who learned sciences by project-based teaching strategies perceived their classroom learning climate as significantly more Satisfying and Enjoyable, with greater Teacher Supportiveness, and the Teacher–Student Relationships as significantly more positive. The differences between the experimental (project-based learning strategies) and control (non-project) groups regarding their perceptions of the science classroom learning climate could be explained by differences between the two science teaching and learning strategies.