Interpersonal Behavior,Laboratory Learning Environments,and Student Outcomes in Senior Biology Classes

The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between students' perceptions of their biology teachers' interpersonal behavior and their laboratory learning environments and their attitudinal, achievement, and performance outcomes. A sample of 489 students from 28 senior biology classes in eight schools in Tasmania, Australia completed the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) and the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI). Responses to two attitude questionnaires, achievement on an external written examination, and performance in laboratory practical tests were used as student outcome measures. Statistical analyses supported the reliability and validity of the QTI and the SLEI when used with senior secondary biology students. We investigated associations between students' perceptions of teacher behavior and their laboratory learning environment with student outcomes, including the unique and common contributions of the QTI and SLEI to variance in student outcomes. Associations with students' perceptions of the learning environment were stronger for the attitudinal outcomes than for the cognitive or practical skills outcomes. Some commonality between the QTI and SLEI scales was found in their contributions to the variance in attitudinal outcomes, but not in their contributions to variance in cognitive and practical skill outcomes. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 26–43, 2000     

Student Perceptions of Chemistry Laboratory Learning Environments, Student–Teacher Interactions and Attitudes in Secondary School Gifted Education Classes in Singapore

This study investigated the chemistry laboratory classroom environment, teacher–student interactions and student attitudes towards chemistry among 497 gifted and non-gifted secondary-school students in Singapore. The data were collected using the 35-item Chemistry Laboratory Environment Inventory (CLEI), the 48-item Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) and the 30-item Questionnaire on Chemistry-Related Attitudes (QOCRA). Results supported the validity and reliability of the CLEI and QTI for this sample. Stream (gifted versus non-gifted) and gender differences were found in actual and preferred chemistry laboratory classroom environments and teacher–student interactions. Some statistically significant associations of modest magnitude were found between students' attitudes towards chemistry and both the laboratory classroom environment and the interpersonal behaviour of chemistry teachers. Suggestions for improving chemistry laboratory classroom environments and the teacher–student interactions for gifted students are provided.     

Computing laboratory classes as language learning environments

Whereas most research on computer-assisted language learning (CALL) tends to rely heavily on the assessment of academic achievement and language learning outcomes, this study involved an evaluation of the psychosocial learning environment in computing laboratories. The What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) and Attitude to Computers and Computing Courses (ACCC) questionnaires were administered to 152 university students undertaking 1-year compulsory education courses in English at the Centre for Foreign Languages (YADIM) at Çukurova University in Turkey. Analysis of data illuminated students’ perceptions of the computer laboratory class as a language learning environment and paved the way for further learning environment studies involving both students and teachers.     

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     

Assessment of Chemistry Laboratory Classroom Environments

The Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI) is a recently developed classroom environment instrument for assessing students' or teachers' perceptions of their science laboratory classroom environment. This paper describes its development and reports on the validation and application of its modified form, the Chemistry Laboratory Environment Inventory (CLEI), with a Singapore secondary school sample. The sample consisted of 1 592 final-year secondary school (i.e. tenth grade) chemistry students from 56 intact classes from 28 randomly selected co-educational government secondary schools in Singapore. Various item and factor analyses supported the reliability and validity of the instrument for assessing students' perceptions of their chemistry laboratory environment specifically in Singapore.     

Students' perceptions of communication ease and engagement. How they relate to academic success.

The extent to which students' self-perceptions of communication ease and engagement relate to their academic achievement was assessed in a study of 95 high school students enrolled in a large urban school for the deaf. Four dimensions of classroom communication were measured: students' understanding of teachers, students' understanding of peers, and positive and negative feelings about communication at school. Engagement, the extent students report being excited and actively involved in the classroom, predicted only teacher-assigned grades when the variance of background variables such as residual hearing and IQ was removed. However, communication ease made a significant contribution to the prediction of the three standardized achievement test scores, as well as grades, when background variance was removed. The results suggest that students are more likely to learn if they perceive themselves as being effective in communicating and have positive feelings about the communication that occurs.     

Predicting the academic achievement of students bridging to engineering: the role of academic background variables and diagnostic testing

Abstract

Although the number of engineering students is increasing, dropout rates remain high. This problem is also present in the Faculty of Engineering Technology (FET) at KU Leuven, Belgium, which resulted in the need for an in-depth analysis of the academic achievement of the bridging students there. This study examines the contribution of a range of predictors, both cognitive and non-cognitive. The examined predictors are: general characteristics, academic background variables and variables tested in a diagnostic test. A multiple linear regression model for the 2015–2016 chohort accounted for an explained variance of 36% of the students’ academic achievement. After combining three cohorts, we managed to explain 43% of the variance in students’ academic achievement. As expected, the academic background variables are the most important predictors. The diagnostic tests are less predictive but their role is important, since they encourage students to participate in associated interventions.     

An operational test of a three-factor theory of classroom social perception

To test the cross-cultural generalizability of measures of student perception of the social enviornment of learning and an operationalization of the social environment of learning and an operationalization of a three-factor theory of the social-psychological properties of small groups (Moos-Bales), the mean end-of-course achievement scores of 166 groups of studious and nonstudies members of 83 general science classes randomly sampled in the State of Rajasthan, India, were regressed on group perception of affect, task orientation, and competitveness (derived from scales of the Learning Enviornment Inventory, LEI, translated into Hindi) and control variables–school and teacher characteristics, and student IQ sex, and socioeconomic status. Nine variables selected for unique contribution to accountable variance in achievement included the four perceptual factors, produced a multiple correlation R of .86, and a cross-validated R of .83 in an independent sample of 67 social studies casses.     

改革英语视听说教学提高学生听说能力

开设英语视听说课程地目的在于提高学生的听力理解和口头表达能力。本文介绍了我院围绕英语视听说课程所开展的一系列教学改革措施,从而指出了改革英语视听说教学、提高学生听说能力的必要性与重要性。     

Evolution and validation of a personal form of an instrument for assessing science laboratory classroom environments

The research reported in this article makes two distinctive contributions to the field of classroom environment research. First, because existing instruments are unsuitable for science laboratory classes, the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI) was developed and validated. Second, a new Personal form of the SLEI (involving a student's perceptions of his or her own role within the class) was developed and validated in conjunction with the conventional Class form (involving a student's perceptions of the class as a whole), and its usefulness was investigated. The instrument was cross-nationally fieldtested with 5,447 students in 269 senior high school and university classes in six countries, and cross-validated with 1,594 senior high school students in 92 classes in Australia. Each SLEI scale exhibited satisfactory internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity, and factorial validity, and differentiated between the perceptions of students in different classes. A variety of applications with the new instrument furnished evidence about its usefulness and revealed that science laboratory classes are dominated by closed-ended activities; mean scores obtained on the Class form were consistently somewhat more favorable than on the corresponding Personal form; females generally held more favorable perceptions than males, but these differences were somewhat larger for the Personal form than the Class form; associations existed between attitudinal outcomes and laboratory environment dimensions; and the Class and Personal forms of the SLEI each accounted for unique variance in student outcomes which was independent of that accounted for by the other form.     

Student perceptions of organizational features in relationship to course ratings

Students' perceptions of the organization and importance of features of a course of instruction may differ from the instructors' and may influence their achievement and attitudinal reactions to the course. Two hundred twenty-nine undergraduates identified and rated the importance of organizational features of their courses, rated the course and instructor, and supplied six items of personal information about themselves. Their final course grades were also secured. A perceptual agreement score between students and instructors on course features and the importance of those features was calculated for each student. Agreement on the presence and importance of course features, along with other personal variables, were significant predictors of student achievement and ratings of courses.     

Changes in Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Instructional Technology Attributed to Completing the ISTE NETS*T Certificate of Proficiency Capstone Program

An evaluation was conducted of teachers’ attitudinal perceptions of their confidence for implementation, stages of innovation adoption, and satisfaction, as a result of participating in the International Society for Technology in Education's National Educational Technology Standards-Teachers (ISTE NETS*T) Certificate of Proficiency Capstone Program. The Self-Efficacy and Stages of Concern instruments provide insight into the attitudinal progression of program participants. Data were collected at pre, mid, post, and follow-up points. Results showed that the capstone program is effective; participants were clearly more confident that they could implement the technology-based/enhanced teaching/learning strategies in their schools; had far fewer concerns about their level of preparedness; were anxious to work with others in their schools; and believed their school/classroom climate was conducive to and supportive of technology integration. Additionally, participants’ principals and/or supervisors were asked to provide data on their perception of the influence the capstone courses had on their teachers.     

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.     

Approaches to studying and perceptions of academic quality in electronically delivered courses

The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and a short form of the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) were administered to students who were taking electronically delivered courses in computer science. The constituent structure of the CEQ was preserved in this distinctive context, and a second-order factor analysis confirmed its role as an index of perceived academic quality. The students' scores on the individual scales of the CEQ and the ASI shared nearly two-thirds of their variance. In short, approaches to studying in electronically delivered courses are strongly associated with students' perceptions of the academic quality of those courses.     

Students' perceptions of academic quality and approaches to studying in distance education

Attempts to demonstrate a relationship between students' approaches to studying in higher education and their perceptions of their academic context have been bedevilled by limitations of the research instruments and the problem of aggregating students' perceptions and approaches across different course units. The extended version of the Course Experience Questionnaire (Wilson et al., 1997) and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (Entwistle et al., 2000) were adapted for use in distance education and administered in a postal survey to students taking seven courses by distance learning with the Open University. Usable responses were obtained from over 2100 students. Both instruments proved to be remarkably robust, and the students' scores on these two instruments shared 61% of their variance. Students' perceptions of the academic quality of courses in distance education are strongly associated with the approaches to studying that they adopt on those courses.     

Young children's motivational beliefs about learning science

For learning science, motivational beliefs such as confidence in one's science abilities and liking of science are associated with current and future science achievement, as well as continued interest in science classes and careers. However, there are currently no measures to test young children's motivational beliefs related to science learning. To meet this need, we developed the Puppet Interview Scales of Competence in and Enjoyment of Science (PISCES). We piloted PISCES with 113 kindergarten children in public schools participating in the Scientific Literacy Project (SLP). Factor analysis supported the multidimensional structure of young children's self-related beliefs about learning science. PISCES scales measured Science Liking, Science Competence, and Ease of Science Learning. Correlations among PISCES scales and achievement subtests provided evidence of PISCES's validity. Children's motivational beliefs varied as a function of length of time spent learning science, with competence beliefs associated positively with science experience. There were no gender differences.     

Recalled test anxiety in relation to achievement,in the context of general academic self-concept,study habits,parental involvement and socio-economic status among Grade 6 Ethiopian students

The study investigated the predictive nature of test anxiety on achievement in the presence of perceived general academic self-concept, study habits, parental involvement in children's learning and socio-economic status. From a population of 2482 Grade 6 students from seven government primary schools of a sub-city in Addis Ababa, 497 participants were randomly selected, namely 248 boys and 249 girls. The mean age of the participants was 12.98 years. An adapted version of Sarason's Test Anxiety Scale (28 items), plus the General Academic Self-Concept Scale (18 items), and Parental Involvement (10 items), Study Habits (10 items) and Socio-Economic Status (10 items) scales developed by the authors were the instruments of the study. The findings of the study indicated: (a) test anxiety correlated with achievement with a weak correlation of ?0.186; and (b) perceived general academic self-concept and study habits were positively and significantly related to achievement. Stepwise multiple regression on achievement resulted in the selection of general academic self-concept, study habits and parental involvement as significant contributors to achievement in that order. Test anxiety was found to be a non-predictor of achievement in the presence of other variables.     

Outcomes of schooling: Mathematics achievement and attitudes towards mathematics learning in Hong Kong

High achievement of cognitive skills and the formation of favourable attitudes towards learning are universally acclaimed outcomes of schooling. The present study utilised the Second IEA Mathematics Study data (N=5644) to examine which of the ten measured attitude dimensions are pertinent in explaining mathematics achievement variance of Form One students in Hong Kong. Correlational and commonality analysis revealed that students' perception of their ability to do mathematics, the importance of mathematics to society and the concept of mathematics being a creative subject are the most pertinent attitude dimensions. In particular, the perception of students' estimated abilities to do mathematics made a substantial, unique and common contribution to the explained mathematics achievement variance.     

The influence of socio-economic status,entry style and instructional variables on the learning of mathematics in a neo-literate society

This paper investigates the influence of socio-economic status, entry style and instructional variables on post-secondary mathematics performance of internal and external students at the University of Papua New Guinea. The 1984 and 1985 intakes of Preliminary Year and Matriculation Studies were taken as samples. Six instruments were developed and administered. The data was analysed using techniques of multiple linear regression supported by all possible subsets of regression. Internal and external mature students' achievement in mathematics was mainly related to their entry style and partially to the instructional variables. The socio-economic status variables have no significant influence on it. The internal regular students' mathematics performance showed a stronger link with their socio-economic status than with their entry style while their instructional variables have no significant effect on their achievement. The pattern of results indicates that the performance of students can be more meaningfully grouped based on entry style rather than on mode of instruction.     

基于Google协作平台的云服务学习环境设计与实现——以宁夏大学影视学苑学习平台构建为例

在教育技术“云服务”迅速发展的背景下,分析了云计算的内涵,介绍了Google协作平台的功能,构建了基于Google协作平台的云服务学习环境——宁夏大学《影视学苑》,并在课程教学中进行了有益的探索和尝试,以期对我国西部欠发达地区开展云计算辅助教学起到抛砖引玉的作用。