A comparison of actual and preferred classroom environments as perceived by science teachers and students

This study of perceptions of classroom environment is distinctive in that, first, it made use of two instruments (the Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire and Classroom Environment Scale) which have had very little use in prior science education research and, second, it involved assessment not only of student perceptions of actual environment, but also of student perceptions of preferred environments and teacher perceptions of actual environment. Administration of these instruments to a sample of 2175 junior high school students in 116 classes revealed that the environment scales exhibited satisfactory internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity in each of the three forms (student actual, student preferred, and teacher actual), and that there were some fascinating systematic differences between the profiles of environment scale scores obtained for the different forms. In particular, it was generally found that students preferred a more favorable classroom environment then was perceived as being actually present and that teachers perceived the environment of their classes more favorably than did students in the same classrooms.     

The nature of Chinese Language classroom learning environments in Singapore secondary schools

This article reports findings from a classroom environment study which was designed to investigate the nature of Chinese Language classroom environments in Singapore secondary schools. We used a perceptual instrument, the Chinese Language Classroom Environment Inventory, to investigate teachers’ and students’ perceptions towards their Chinese Language classroom learning environments using six dimensions, namely, Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Cooperation, Task Orientation and Equity. The investigation was carried out using a sample of 1,460 secondary three (Grade 9) students from 50 Chinese Language classes in 25 Singapore government secondary schools. The nature of the Chinese Language classroom learning environments was interpreted from analyses of the perception scores obtained, as well as from various comparisons of the perception scores between different groups. Although both the Chinese Language teachers and students perceived their present classroom learning environments positively, they would like improvements in all the six dimensions of the classroom learning environments under investigation. Also teachers perceived a more positive classroom learning environment than their students in the same class. In addition, female students perceived their actual and preferred classroom environments more positively than their male counterparts.     

Development of an instrument for assessing senior high school students’ preferred and perceived laboratory classroom environment

This study aimed to develop an instrument, named the inquiry-based laboratory classroom environment instrument (ILEI), for assessing senior high-school science students’ preferred and perceived laboratory environment. A total of 262 second-year students, from a senior-high school in Taiwan, were recruited for this study. Four stages were included in the development of the ILEI: (1) item formulation, (2) content validation, (3) construct validation and (4) reliability calculation. The study revealed that the ILEI was valid and reliable. Most students showed a preference for a student-directed and teacher-guided hybrid learning environment. The development of the ILEI is likely to help researchers and teachers to more effectively understand student views of the laboratory classroom environment. Our profound hope is to utilise ILEI to improve teachers’ assessment and students’ learning in inquiry-based laboratory classroom environments.     

Learning Environment and its Association with Student Satisfaction Among Mathematics Students in Brunei Darussalam

This article reports a study of lower secondary mathematics classroom learning environment in Brunei Darussalam and its association with students' satisfaction with learning mathematics among a sample of 1565 students from 81 classes in 15 government secondary schools. Students' perceptions of the classroom learning environments were assessed with a version of the My Class Inventory (MCI) that had been modified for the Brunei context. The study revealed a satisfactory factor structure for a refined three-scale version of the MCI assessing cohesiveness, difficulty and competition. This finding is noteworthy because the factorial validity of the MCI has not previously been established in past research in other countries. Also each scale displayed satisfactory internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity and was able to differentiate between the perceptions of students in different classes. A one-way MANOVA revealed that students generally perceived a positive learning environment in mathematics classes. Also the study supported earlier research suggesting that boys and girls hold different perceptions of the same classroom learning environments. Relationships between student satisfaction and classroom environment were investigated using simple and multiple correlation analyses, using both the individual student and class mean as units of analysis. Associations between satisfaction and the learning environment were statistically significant both at student and class levels for most MCI scales. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Using student perceptions to compare actual and preferred classroom environment in Queensland schools

Students’ perceptions of actual and preferred classroom environment were investigated using the What is happening in this class? questionnaire (WIHIC). The WIHIC assesses seven classroom environment dimensions: student cohesiveness, teacher support, involvement, task orientation, investigation, cooperation and equity. A sample of 978 secondary school students from 63 classes in Queensland responded to the WIHIC. For each item on the WIHIC, students recorded their perceptions of the actual (or real) and preferred (or ideal) classroom environment. Results revealed that statistically significant differences between actual and preferred environments, and that the gap between actual and preferred environment was smaller for more positive classroom environments.     

Differences Between Students' and Instructors' Perceptions of Actual and Preferred Classroom Environment in Higher Education

The College and University Classroom Environment Inventory was developed for assessing higher education students' or instructors' perceptions of the following seven dimensions of actual or preferred classroom psychosocial environment: personalisation, involvement, student cohesiveness, satisfaction, task orientation, innovation and individualisation. Each scale displayed satisfactory internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity for use in its actual and preferred forms with either perceptions of students in different classes. Use of the instrument in a study in 20 higher education classes revealed that, first, both students and instructors preferred a more favourable classroom environment than the one actually present and, second, instructors perceived the environment of their classes more positively than did their students in the same classrooms.     

Students’ and teachers’ perceptions of classroom learning environment in Bhutanese eighth-grade mathematics classes

This paper reports a study of students’ and teachers’ perceptions of their classroom learning environment in Bhutanese eighth-grade mathematics classes. Research suggests that positive perceptions of the learning environment can have a positive influence on students’ learning outcomes, interest and engagement in classroom activities. The study was conducted in 2013, using the survey samples of 608 students and 98 teachers from 22 lower- and middle-secondary schools in western Bhutan. Students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the classroom environment were measured using the Mathematics Classroom Learning Environment Survey (MCLES). Students and teachers mostly perceived their classroom environments favourably on the MCLES scales irrespective of gender, school level and school location. The study is significant for understanding and evaluating the implementation of new mathematics curriculum in Bhutanese schools because it could guide the development of strategies for more-productive mathematics classroom learning. It is also significant from the perspective of Bhutan’s national goal of Gross National Happiness because perceptions and happiness always go hand-in-hand.     

Use of classroom and school climate scales in evaluating alternative high schools

Some alternative high schools which aim to provide an appropriate ethos for adult learners were evaluated in terms of both student perceptions of classroom environment and teacher perceptions of school environment. From within the alternative schools, a sample of 536 students in 45 classes responded to the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory and a group of 106 teachers responded to the School-level Environment Questionnaire. Relative to some control groups, students in the alternative high schools perceived their classes as having greater involvement, satisfaction, innovation and, individualization, while teachers in the alternative schools perceived more professional interest, achievement orientation, and innovativeness.     

Gender effects for student perception of the classroom psychosocial environment

A future shortage of science teachers has been predicted, and since women are presently underrepresented in the sciences, they are a good potential source for future science teachers. Unfortunately women appear to become less interested in science as they continue in school. Because the classroom psychosocial environment has been shown to be related to learning outcomes, it may contribute to women's lack of interest in sciences. This study compared the classroom environments perceived by fourth grade, seventh grade and high school boys and girls in classes taught by males and females to determine if any perceptual differences existed. The three, two factor MANOVAS (teacher gender by student gender) showed no differences for fourth grade students, one for seventh grade students and three for high school students. The seventh grade boys and girls perceived classes taught by females as having more friction than classes taught by males and high school boys and girls perceived classes taught by females as being more difficult than classes taught by males. Further, for the high school students it appears that classes are perceived more favorably when the opposite genders are combined. These perceptual differences combined with role modeling may contribute to the lack of women in science. More research is necessary to determine causal relationships.     

A Multilevel Analysis of Learning Environments and Student Attitudes

An investigation of relationships between students’ attitudes towards chemistry and their perceived laboratory environments was carried out using a sample of 1592 final year secondary school students in 56 chemistry classes in 28 randomly selected co‐educational government schools. This study is distinctive in that it marks the beginning of science classroom environment research in Singapore and because it pioneers the use of the Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) in learning environment research. The Chemistry Laboratory Environment Inventory (CLEI), a modified version of the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory, was used to assess students’ perceptions of the learning environment in chemistry laboratory classes. Students’ chemistry‐related attitudes were assessed using the Questionnaire on Chemistry‐related Attitudes (QOCRA), which is based on the Test of Science‐related Attitudes. Environment‐attitude relationships were examined using conventional multiple regression analysis and the more rigorous HLM. Positive associations emerged between the nature of the chemistry laboratory classroom environment and the students’ attitudinal outcomes     

The Development of an Instrument for a Technology-integrated Science Learning Environment

This study developed, validated, and utilized the Technology Integrated Classroom Inventory (TICI) to examine technology-integrated science learning environments as perceived by secondary school students and teachers. Using technology-oriented classroom climate instruments and considering the science classroom’s characteristics, TICI was developed. More than 1,100 seventh through ninth grade science students validated the instrument, revealing eight scales: technological enrichment, inquiry learning, equity and friendliness, student cohesiveness, understanding and encouragement, competition and efficacy, audiovisual environment, and order, with alpha reliabilities ranging between 0.69 and 0.91 (0.93 for the entire questionnaire). In measuring actual and preferred learning environments, TICI results indicated that both students and teachers ranked equity and friendliness highest. The largest actual–preferred discrepancy was order (students) and inquiry learning (teachers). TICI offers additional utilities for technology-enriched science leaning environments.     

Classroom Learning Environments in Urban Elementary,Middle, and High Schools

The purpose of the present study was to investigate student gender, subject area, and grade level differences in students' perceptions of their classroom learning environment. Over 13,000 students from 96 urban elementary, middle, and high schools that served predominantly minority students completed a modified version of the Classroom Environment Scale (CES) and the Instructional Learning Environment Questionnaire (ILEQ). Female students generally reported higher scores for their perceptions of the learning environment than did male students. There were very few differences by subject area, but there were many statistically and educationally significant differences by grade level. In general, middle school classes had less favorable perceptions of their learning environment than did either elementary or high school classes.     

Learning environment associated with use of mixed mode delivery model among secondary business studies students in Singapore

At many teacher education institutes around the world, preservice teachers are empowered to use pedagogical tools and strategies that engage their students. We used a modified version of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) to evaluate the effectiveness of a pedagogical model known as the Mixed Mode Delivery (MMD) model in terms of the CLES’s five scales of personal relevance, uncertainty, critical voice, shared control and negotiation. Comparisons were made between 2,216 secondary school students taught by the preservice teachers in an MMD group and 991 students in a control group in terms of the relative magnitudes of the gap between the actual and preferred learning environment in students’ school classrooms. The findings supported the positive impact of using MMD in terms of students’ perceptions of their classroom environments for all CLES scales.     

Do learning environments differ across subjects and nations: Case studies in Hawaii and Singapore using the WIHIC questionnaire

The purpose of this study was to survey a sample of high school students in Hawaii and Singapore about what they perceive to be helpful aspects of classroom environments in their learning of science and humanities subjects. The What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire was administered in the fall of 2003 to 73 high school students in Hawaii and 70 high school students in Singapore. These students were asked to respond to statements that focused on their actual and preferred environments in science and humanities classes for the three dimensions of learning environments of student cohesiveness, student involvement, and task orientation in the actual and preferred classroom. Principal component analyses were conducted separately for the data collected in the science and the humanities classes to make sure that the questions represented the anticipated factors in each of these two subject areas. A three-way multivariate analysis of variance was also conducted for all three dimensions of learning environments for differences in scores on items in the WIHIC questionnaire for the actual classroom subtracted from scores for the preferred learning environment. Results of this test revealed that the primary difference between students in high schools in Hawaii and Singapore was that students in the high schools in Hawaii wanted more student cohesiveness and involvement than the students in high schools in Singapore regardless of the subject. Another interesting finding was in the dimension of task orientation, for which the interaction between student nationality and subject was statistically significant.     

Development,validation and application of a modified Arabic translation of the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire

This article reports the development, translation, validation and application of a modified Arabic version of a modified form of the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire. When parallel Arabic and English versions of this questionnaire were field tested with a sample of 763 college students in 82 classes, the WIHIC exhibited sound factorial validity and internal consistency reliability for both its actual and preferred forms, and the actual form differentiated between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. Comparison of students’ scores on actual and preferred forms of the questionnaires revealed that students preferred a more positive classroom environment on all scales.     

BOOK REVIEW

This paper describes an investigation in Korea of the extent to which a new general science curriculum, reflecting a constructivist view, has influenced the classroom learning environment in grade 10 science. The Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) was selected for the investigation and translated into Korean. Other objectives of this study were to determine whether the Korean version of the CLES is valid and reliable, differences between students’ perceptions of their actual and preferred learning environment and associations between students’ perceptions of the constructivist learning environment and their attitude to science. The Korean‐language version of the CLES was found to be valid and reliable and grade 10 students did perceive a more constructivist learning environment than grade 11 students who had not been exposed to the new curriculum. This suggested that efforts of curriculum reform had produced some positive effects. Students tended to prefer a more positive environment than what was perceived to be present and statistically significant relationships were found between classroom environment and student attitudes. These relationships suggest that favourable student attitudes could be promoted in classes where students perceive more personal relevance, share control with their teachers and negotiate their learning.     

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.     

An Analysis of Some New Statistical Methods for Selecting Test Items

In this study, the relationship between student affective performance and classroom physical environment, social climate, and management style were investigated in a sample of classes in Hong Kong primary schools. The results of Pearson and canonical correlation analyses indicated that among the measures of classroom environment, perceived quality of physical environment and class master's expert power, personal power, and coercive power were the strongest predictors of affective performance. This finding supports the importance of class master's management style in the classroom environment. Students' attitudes toward school and teachers appeared to be most sensitive to variation in the classroom environment, and self-concept was the least sensitive among the seven student affective measures. Students' self-efficacy of learning and intention to drop out were moderately sensitive to classroom environment. Profiles of effective and ineffective classroom environments were also mapped. In effective classrooms, class masters care for students, pay attention to teaching, do not use force or punishment but do create a good classroom climate with their professional knowledge, personal morality, and personality. Physical environment and psychological environment are both important; a good classroom environment is highly correlated with student affective performance.     

Classroom environment and approaches to learning: An investigation of the actual and preferred perceptions of Hong Kong secondary school students

This study is based on the responses of 180 Form 3 Hong Kong secondary students to preferred and actual forms of Chinese versions of the Classroom Environment Scale (Moos & Trickett 1974) and Learning Process Questionnaire (Biggs 1987) with reference to their Science classes. The data tended to support qualitative research indicating that Hong Kong secondary school students perceive their classroom to be relatively competitive and teacher controlled and as encouraging rote learning. The students tended to prefer a friendlier atmosphere where students and teachers collaborated to provide a greater variety of interesting but challenging activities. Such a learning environment, the students indicated, would tend to promote the deeper, more achievement-oriented approach to learning that they would prefer. The relationship was strongest between preferred deep approach and preferred learning environment. Some implications for improvement of student learning are discussed.     

Effectiveness of National Board Certified (NBC) teachers in terms of classroom environment, attitudes and achievement among secondary science students

No previous research has employed learning environments criteria in evaluating the effectiveness of the system of teacher certification sponsored by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Because the litmus test of any professional development effort is the extent of the changes in teaching behaviours in participating teachers’ classrooms, our study drew on the field of learning environments in evaluating the effectiveness of National Board Certified (NBC) teachers in terms of their students’ perceptions of their classroom environments. A sample of 443 students in 21 Grade 8 and 10 science classes taught by NBC teachers in South Florida was compared with a matched group of 484 students in 17 classes taught by non-NBC teachers in terms of classroom environment (as assessed by the What Is Happening In this Class?) and students’ attitudes and achievement. Statistically significant differences (with small to medium effect sizes ranging from 0.14 to 0.35 standard deviations) were found in favour of NBC teachers for numerous classroom and environment scales (Teacher Support, Involvement, Task Orientation, Investigation and Cooperation) and for student attitudes.