A study of Indonesian students' perceptions of classroom psychosocial environment

Extensive research conducted in developed countries has established classroom learning environment as a thriving field of study. The present investigation makes a contribution to classroom environment research in that it involved the translation into Indonesian of scales previously available only in English, and the subsequent validation and use of these translated scales among Indonesian students. The new Indonesian instrument consists of nine seven-item scales based upon the Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire and the Classroom Environment Scale. Analyses of data collected from a sample of 373 Indonesian students from nine schools supported the new instrument's internal consistency, discriminant validity, ability to differentiate between classrooms, and predictive validity (i.e. ability to predict student outcomes). Potential applications of the new instruments in Indonesian classrooms are suggested.

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Zusammenfassung Die in entwickelten Ländern durchgeführte umfassende Untersuchung beweist, daß die Klassenumwelt ein emporkommendes Untersuchungsfeld ist. Die jetztige Nachforschung trägt zur Klassenumweltsuntersuchung bei, insofern als Tabellen bis jetzt nur auf Englisch erhältlich waren und sie durch ihre Übersetzung ins Indonesische auf ihre nachfolgende Gültigkeit und Anwendung bei indonesischen Schülern untersucht wurden. Das neue indonesische Instrument besteht aus neun sieben-Punkte-Tabellen, die sich auf den Fragebogen bezüglich individualisierter Klassenumwelt (Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire) und auf die Klassenumweltstabelle (Classroom Environment Scale) stützen. Analysen von gesammelten Daten einer repräsentativen Auswahl von 373 indonesischen Schülern aus neun Schulen bestätigen die inhärente Folgerichtigkeit des neuen Instruments, seine Unterscheidungsgültigkeit, seine Fähigkeit zwischen Klassen zu differenzieren und seine Genauigkeit in der Vorhersage (d.h. die Fähigkeit, die Resultate der Schüler vorherzusagen). Die Untersuchung schlägt potentielle Anwendungen der neuen Instrumente in indonesischen Klassen vor.

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Résumé La recherche approfondie qui a été menée dans les pays développés sur le milieu d'apprentissage qu'est la classe en a fait un champ d'étude florissant. La présente enquête apporte une contribution à la recherche sur le milieu scolaire en ce qu'elle introduit la traduction en indonésien d'échelles d'évaluation qui n'existaient jusqu'alors qu'en anglais, et qu'elle examine la validation ultérieure et l'application de ces échelles, une fois traduites, par les étudiants indonésiens. Le nouvel instrument indonésien consiste en neuf échelles de sept items basées sur le Questionnaire portant sur le milieu scolaire tel qu'il est vécu par chaque individu et sur l'Echelle du Milieu Scolaire. Les analyses des données recueillies auprès d'un échantillon représentatif de 373 étudiants indonésiens appartenant à neuf écoles différentes ont confirmé la valeur intrinsèque du nouvel instrument d'évaluation, sa justesse de discernement, sa capacité à différencier entre les classes, et l'exactitude de ses pronostics (c'est-à-dire la capacité à prédire les résultats des étudiants). Cette étude suggère différentes applications potentielles de ces nouveaux moyens d'évaluation dans les classes indonésiennes.

     

Acknowledging the affective in higher education

This article argues that we need richer conceptions of students as affective and embodied selves and a clearer theorisation of the role of emotion in educational encounters. These areas are currently under‐researched and under‐theorised in higher education. The first part of the article explores the literature on emotion. The second reports on a case study which aimed to map students' emotional journeys over their first year at university. These data highlight the importance of relationships, students' changing emotions over the year, their perceptions of their academic studies and understandings of life at university. The article concludes that it is important to understand the affective dimension in pedagogic encounters and the lifeworld of students, and that it is possible to do so without a collapse into therapeutic discourses.     

ICT and educational (dis)advantage: families,computers and contemporary social and educational inequalities

Because access to new technologies is unequally distributed, there has been considerable debate about the growing gap between the so‐called information‐rich and information‐poor. Such concerns have led to high‐profile information technology policy initiatives in many countries. In Australia, in an attempt to ‘redress the balance between the information rich and poor’ by providing ‘equal access to the World Wide Web’ (Virtual Communities, 2002 Virtual Communities (2002) About us. Available online at: http://www.virtualcommunities. com.au (accessed 18 August 2002)  [Google Scholar]), the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Virtual Communities (a computer/software distributor) and Primus (an Internet provider) in late 1999 formed an alliance to offer relatively inexpensive computer and Internet access to union members in order to make ‘technology affordable for all Australians’ (Virtual Communities, 2002 Virtual Communities (2002) About us. Available online at: http://www.virtualcommunities. com.au (accessed 18 August 2002)  [Google Scholar]). In this paper, we examine four families, one of which had long‐term Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) access, and three of which took advantage of the Virtual Communities offer to get home computer and Internet access for the first time. We examine their engagement with ICT and suggest that previously disadvantaged family members are not particularly advantaged by their access to ICT.     

Reviews

Sam Pickering teaches English at the University of Connecticut     

The inheritance of behavioral wildness in house mice (Mus musculus L.)

Fourteen behavioral measures were ranked according to their ability to differentiate performances of a wild population of mice from three domestic inbred strains. These “wildness” rankings were then analyzed for their ability to predict genetic and Genotype by Environment interactions. Genetic parameters were derived from analysis of three inbred domestic strains and their three hybrid crosses via the diallel technique of genetic analysis. Genotype by Environment interactions were assessed both as mean differences in stock performances resulting from rearing in a laboratory vs naturalistic environment and as differences in environmental variability within stock genotypes. Behavioral characters ranking high on “wildness” failed to demonstrate any unitary pattern of Genotype by Environment interactions. The diallel genetic analysis revealed many examples of additive variation but relatively few examples of dominant variation. An extremely wide range of interactions occurred between genotype and rearing environments, with “wildness” and “developmental homeostasis” concepts both failing to account for all the observed interactions.     

Enhancing self-regulation of practice: the influence of graphing and self-evaluative standards

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of graphing of self-recorded outcomes and self-evaluative standards on the acquisition of a motoric skill with 70 college students. It was postulated that students who were provided with graduated self-evaluative standards would surpass those who were provided with absolute standards or no standards (control) in both motoric skill and in motivational beliefs (i.e., self-efficacy, attributions, and self-satisfaction). Regarding graphing of self-recorded outcomes, it was hypothesized that students who graphed their results visually would show higher dart skill and stronger motivational beliefs than participants who did not graph their results. Support was found for these hypotheses. The implications of findings of this study were discussed for instructors in terms of how the effects of self-directed practice can be enhanced.     

Strategies for Broadening Participation in Advanced Technological Education Programs: Practice and Perceptions

Expanding and diversifying the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce is a national priority. The National Science Foundation is investing efforts at post secondary education institutions to engage individuals who have been historically underrepresented in STEM. This paper investigated the use of strategies to broaden participation in STEM by grantees of NSF’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE), who are primarily located at 2-year colleges. The ATE program focuses on developing and improving technician training programs to prepare students for employment in fields that rely on advanced technologiessuch as nanotechnology, photonics, and mechatronics. A survey, conducted annually by the authors of this study, was used to collect data from ATE grantees on their use and perceptions of strategies to broaden participation in STEM. The findings showed that strategies related to motivation and access to enhance recruitment are more widely used then strategies that improve retention. Respondents identified strategies related to providing financial assistance, mentoring, and conducting outreach activities as the most effective for reaching and engaging underrepresented minority students in academic programs. Despite these perceptions, these strategies seem to be underutilized among this group.     

Aquatic-Aerobic Exercise as a Means of Stress Reduction during Pregnancy

The goals of this research were to explore the current literature regarding associations between psychological stress and adverse fetal outcome, associations between aerobic exercise and psychological stress reduction, and associations between aerobic exercise and fetal outcome. The published studies that were located provide evidence of the following: 1) Stress reactivity increases physiologically during pregnancy, 2) pregnant women may experience additional stressors that are usually not experienced in a nonpregnant state, 3) psychological stress in pregnancy is associated with adverse fetal outcome, 4) exercise can be a method of stress reduction, 5) exercise in pregnancy is not associated with adverse fetal outcome, and 6) exercise in pregnancy may provide benefit to the fetus. Data were analyzed from an original study and associations were reported between psychological stress-management activities and participation in aquatic aerobic exercise classes. No reports were available investigating an exercise-induced reduction in psychological stress with fetal outcome.     

Child abuse potential inventory and parenting behavior: Relationships with high-risk correlates

The primary purpose of this research was to examine the construct validity of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory by comparing maltreating and high-risk parents' CAP Inventory abuse scores to their behavior during interactions with their children. A second purpose was to determine the degree to which CAP Inventory scores and parenting behavior were related to several known correlates of abuse, as measured by parent and teacher reports. Participants (n = 41) included abusive and high-risk parents and their children referred to a treatment group. Correlational analyses revealed that CAP Inventory scores and observed parenting style yielded highly related findings, supporting construct validity of the CAP Inventory. However, the CAP Inventory and observed behavior index showed a different pattern of relationships to the risk correlates. Implications for assessment of risk status are discussed and recommendations are provided for continued research.     

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.