Assessing the quality of learning environments in Swedish schools: Development and analysis of a theory-based instrument

The Goals, Attitudes and Values in School (GAVIS) questionnaire was developed on the basis of theoretical frameworks concerning learning environments, universal human values and studies of students’ experience of learning environments. The theory hypothesises that learning environments can be described and structured in a circumplex model using the factors of creativity, stimulation, achievement, efficacy, safety, control, helpfulness, participation, responsibility and influence. The answers from a group of Swedish students in compulsory schooling and optional secondary schooling were analysed with confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis showed that a model with 10 latent variables corresponding to the model fitted the data well. A perfect circumplex structure of the covariance matrix between the latent variables, however, was not confirmed with structural equation modelling (SEM).