Showing papers in "Learning Environments Research in 1998"

Classroom environment instruments: development, validity and applications

Abstract: Few fields of educational research have such a rich diversity of valid, economical and widely-applicable assessment instruments as does the field of learning environments. This article describes nine major questionnaires for assessing student perceptions of classroom psychosocial environment (the Learning Environment Inventory, Classroom Environment Scale, Individualised Classroom Environment Questionnaire, My Class Inventory, College and University Classroom Environment Inventory, Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction, Science Laboratory Environment Inventory, Constructivist Learning Environment Survey and What Is Happening In This Class) and reviews the application of these instruments in 12 lines of past research (focusing on associations between outcomes and environment, evaluating educational innovation, differences between student and teacher perceptions, whether students achieve better in their preferred environment, teachers' use of learning environment perceptions in guiding improvements in classrooms, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, links between different educational environments, cross-national studies, the transition from primary to high school, and incorporating educational environment ideas into school psychology, teacher education and teacher assessment).

Creating a Learning Environment by Using Self-, Peer-, and Co-Assessment.

Abstract: To develop the skills and competencies required in professional organisations, students have to reflect on their own behaviour. Many current assessment practices in higher education do not answer this need. The recent interest in new assessment forms, such as self-, peer-, and co-assessment, can be seen as a means to tackle this problem. In the present article, a review of the literature provides answers to two questions: (1) How are self-, peer- and co-assessment applied in higher education? and (2) What are the effects of the use of these forms of assessment on the quality of the learning environment? Analyses of 62 studies showed that self-, peer- and co-assessment can be effective tools in developing competencies needed as a professional. These forms of assessment are often used in combination with each other. Implementation of these forms of assessments accelerates the developments of a curriculum based on competencies (knowledge as a tool) rather than knowledge (as a goal) and leads towards the integration of instruction and assessment in higher education. As such, this development of a learning environment contributes to the education of responsible and reflective professionals.

The Birth of a New Journal: Editor's Introduction

Abstract: This article traces several historical landmarks in the development of the burgeoning field of learning environments and shows that the time is ripe for the birth of this new journal. The scope of the new journal is described. A brief overview of the six other articles in this issue is provided.

Changes in Learning Environment during the Transition from Primary to Secondary School

Abstract: The study used learning environment variables in investigating changes occurring as students transfer from primary to secondary school, including the role of student sex and school size pathway as influencing factors in changes in learning environment perceptions. The My Class Inventory (MCI) and Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) were used in two data-gathering stages, one in the penultimate month of primary schooling and the other in the fourth month of secondary schooling. The sample comprised 1500 students from 47 feeder primary schools and 16 linked secondary schools. The primary schools ranged from very small isolated country schools to larger city schools with hundreds of students. Five different school size transition pathways were defined for analysis: small-to-medium, medium-to-medium, small-to-large, medium-to-large and ‘within-school’ (involving schools with a K-10 structure, but with separate primary and secondary school sites within the same campus). Although the classroom climate in secondary schools was perceived more favourably than in primary schools (especially in terms of less friction and competitiveness), the quality of teacher-student interaction was perceived to deteriorate on most dimensions assessed by the QTI (e.g. a reduction in teachers' leadership, helping/friendly, understanding and student responsibility/freedom behaviours). But changes in environment perceptions across transition varied with student sex and school size pathway. For example, perceptions of class satisfaction across transition deteriorated for girls, but improved for the boys. The findings have implications for administrators and teachers, particularly those with a role within the ‘middle school’ years.

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

Abstract: 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.

Describing Computer-facilitated Learning Environments in Higher Education

Abstract: The research reported here is part of a study of the ways in which university academics design and incorporate computer-facilitated learning (CFL) environments into their courses. This study was based on archive material only (the initial application and final report) for 36 externally-funded technology-based projects from a number of disciplines. Projects were sorted into categories based on educational assumptions and practices. Categories were then compared and refined so as to reveal their major sources of similarity and difference. The resulting framework is one in which the use of educational technology in higher education can be interpreted in terms of several key qualitative dimensions which reflect academics’ beliefs about the origin of knowledge, the learning framework, control of the direction of learning, and the nature of the knowledge and of the learning process.

Computer-Mediated Communication Environments in Teacher Education: Computer Conferencing and the Supervision of Student Teachers

Abstract: The use of computer conferencing environments with student teachers and their supervisors was implemented during teaching practice and evaluated for four teacher education programs. Computer conferencing can be contrasted with the more common supervision methods, such as face-to-face conferences between the student teacher and the cooperating teacher, or between a group of student teachers and their supervisor at the teacher education institute. In our evaluation, we focused on participants' opinions of computer conferencing and their participation, activities and educational outcomes. During their field experiences, student teachers used computer conferencing primarily to exchange emotional support when they recognised similar experiences among their peers. It was less used for reflecting on their teaching and exchanging pedagogical content knowledge, including instructional methods and designs, classroom management strategies, general and instructional theories, and aspects of the teaching profession. This finding led to the conclusion that more attention should be paid to the structure of student teachers' learning environment, because more coaching and instruction of student teachers in their systematic and reflective use of computer conferencing leads to more varied and extensive communication

Perceptions of School Environment among Japanese Junior High School, Non-attendant, and Juvenile Delinquent Students

Abstract: Scales to assess Japanese school environment were constructed based on the Classroom Environment Scale (CES) (Moos & Trickett, 1974) and a Japanese scale (Hirata, 1994). Factor analysis revealed four factors extracted from 61 items: Teacher Control, Sense of Isolation, Order and Discipline, and ‘Wa’ Affiliation. The resulting Classroom Environment Scale (CES-J) consists of 29 items. In Study I, 635 pupils from four junior high schools were compared on the CES-J, and statistically significant school differences were found for Sense of Isolation, Order & Discipline and ‘Wa’ Affiliation. In Study II, the CES-J was administered to 266 junior high school students, 106 juvenile delinquents and 11 non-attendant pupils. Delinquents showed a stronger sense of isolation in the classroom, and non-attendant students reported more maladjustment regarding affiliation with classmates. The results suggest that the CES-J is useful for assessing students' perceptions of the characteristics of their schools. It was necessary to modify the CES for use in Japan, as well as for the factors which delineate the Japanese school environment.

School Climate, School Improvement and Site-based Management

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between school organisational climate and the school's preparedness to undertake restructuring and improvement. Over the last two decades, much research into school improvement and effectiveness has indicated the importance of school climate for a school's efforts to change. For school-level personnel, an understanding of the nature of the prevailing climate would seem valuable in determining the school's willingness and capacity to embark on school improvement initiatives and to evaluate the impact that such initiatives have on the nature of the school's climate. The research reported here was conducted in three phases. The first phase involved the assessment of the prevailing organisational climate in 30 secondary schools drawn from three State education systems in Australia. The second phase involved analysing and documenting the principles and school-level process associated with the establishment of site-based management in the three State education systems. The third phase sought teachers' perceptions about the impact of site-based management on school improvement planning, collaboration and curriculum leadership, and classroom practices. The research indicated the existence of an important relationship between organisational climate and the school's capacity to implement and sustain authentic site-based management. Where the prevailing organisational climate is negative, tailored ‘front-end’ strategies designed to improve the climate might be undertaken prior to the school embarking on substantial school improvement initiatives. Finally, assessing organisational climate can provide information about a school's preparedness to undertake change, and a re-assessment of climate following a change initiative can provide evaluative data about the extent of change within the school.

Teacher-As-Researcher Reform: Student Achievement and Perceptions of Learning Environment.

Abstract: This study reports the results of a research project conducted as part of high school teachers' efforts to bring about reform of science education in their school. Two classes of Grade 8 students (N = 43) taught by the same teacher were monitored in terms of students' perceptions of their learning environment, achievement levels, and conceptual understanding of research. Quantitative methods (questionnaire, tests and examinations, GPA) and qualitative methods (interviews, videotaped lessons, artifacts) were combined while the learning environment was changed to a student-centered open inquiry format. Not unexpectedly, relationships between the Autonomy and Student-Centeredness scales of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) and immediate (unit test) and delays post-tests (examination subsection) were detected. On the other hand, although student-student interactions in small-groups and whole-class sessions were a significant part of the learning environment, the Negotiation scale was not related to achievement. Three case studies of representative students (in terms of achievement and perceptions of the learning environment) are featured, further underscoring the importance of monitoring reform of teaching at the classroom level.

Making the School Environment Safe: Red Rose's Formula.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the school environment of an urban school to illuminate what teachers felt to be important factors in developing a safer school environment. Responses to the School Level Environmental Questionnaire (SLEQ) suggested that teachers wanted more student support, more resources and less work pressure. To decrease work pressure, teachers adopted the work conservation strategies of working without reserves of time and energy, processing curriculum, and working in isolation in order to survive. Yet, when work conservation strategies were used, especially safeguarding time, student aggression surfaced. A School Improvement Committee developed a three-step plan to decrease work pressure. Teachers were concerned with lack of resources and used personal income to buy supplies and shared materials with students, using three styles of sharing. While some teachers were reluctant to share, others shared freely and still other teachers developed responsible sharing systems. Those who shared reluctantly had more behavior problems. Teachers' gravest concerns were students' aggressive behaviors. Teachers thought that student aggression was coming from home and the community. Observations showed that students often came to school angry. Yet, interviews verified that students at Rose more frequently became angry once they were at school. Red Rose's school environment was in the midst of change, but no attention was given to how change affects teachers. Many teachers were not prepared for the amount of change that they were experiencing and they had mixed feelings and opinions and became resistant.

The Development and Validation of an Instrument to Assess Institutional-Level Environment in Universities

Abstract: This study reports the development and validation of an instrument to assess institutional or university-level environment in universities. Using a sample of 489 academics from 52 departments in 28 Australian universities, an instrument called the University-Level Environment Questionnaire (ULEQ) was field-tested and validated. The final form of the ULEQ consists of 42 items assigned to seven scales: Academic Freedom, Concern for Undergraduate Learning, Concern for Research and Scholarship, Empowerment, Affiliation, Mission Consensus, and Work Pressure. Validation data showed that the ULEQ has sound structural characteristics, thus suggesting that it should prove to be an important research tool for individual academics, departments, and universities interested in improving their learning environments.

Conceptualizing Organizational Dimensions of Instructional Supervisory Practice: Implications for Professional Learning Environments in Schools

Abstract: This study explored the organizational nature of the professional learning environments of teachers, administrators, and other peer professionals in schools. A conceptual model of the organizational structure and effects of instructional supervisory practices was developed to guide the empirical investigation. The model is based on an organizational conception of instructional supervision in which the variety of supervisory behaviors, interactions, and decision making engaged in by school personnel contributes to a unique organizational/supervisory (O/S) climate infusing a school's professional learning environment. Six meaningful dimensions of O/S climate were empirically derived. Climate variable linkages to various indices of school effectiveness were posited and explored using quantitative and qualitative methods. The study's qualitative findings revealed additional school-level, organizational context factors which further explicated the O/S climate and professional learning environment constructs and quantitative supervisory climate/effectiveness linkages identified in the study's original conceptual model.

Collaborating in the Evolution of a Middle School Science Learning Environment.

Abstract: This study describes a collaborative study involving a teacher and university researcher using learning environment research to transform a middle school science learning environment. Habermas' idea of knowledge constitutive interests (technical, practical, and emancipatory) is used as a perspective to make sense of the learning environment. Student perceptions of science and the nature of science were explored. Classroom observations and student interviews were the primary data sources. Students perceived science as primarily a set of facts to be learned and did not view it as an inquiry method or a social process. Despite the characterization of the course by the teacher and students as ‘hands-on’ and ‘experimental’, technical interests were prevalent. Through negotiation, a plan of action was outlined for recreating the learning environment to make it more practical and emancipatory, as well as more consistent with contemporary perspectives on the nature of science.