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The purpose of this study was to modify and validate a new form of the Colleges and Universities Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI), and to then use it to compare students' actual and preferred perceptions of their classroom learning environments at the senior and tertiary levels of education. The study also examined the attitudes of 504 students towards their science courses. The reliabilities of the modified CUCEI scales were satisfactory. Sizeable relationships were found between students' perceptions of their learning environment and attitudinal outcomes. When the two levels were compared, students at the tertiary level ad a less favorable perception of the learning environment. However, when attitudes were compared students at the tertiary level preferred a more positive attitude in terms of the satisfaction with courses they were taking and the level of difficulty. There was no difference in their attitude to speed delivery of science courses. (Author)

This study reports the first use of classroom learning environment questionnaires involving students in senior high school environmental science classes. The three objectives of the study were to measure students' perceptions of aspects of their learning environment in environmental science classrooms by means of the Environmental Science Learning Environment Inventory (ESLEI), to investigate associations between students' perceptions of their classroom learning environment and students' attitudinal outcomes, and to investigate differences in student perceptions based on the students' gender and whether they were studying another science course. Results indicate that of the five aspects of environmental science students' learning environments measured in this study, student cohesion, involvement, and task orientation were found to be the most strongly associated with positive attitudinal outcomes. Contains 35 references. (DDR)

A cross-national study of learning environments in Taiwan and Australia is one example of research that employs both qualitative and quantitative methods. This paper describes the part of that study related to the development and validation of an instrument called the Teacher Student Interaction (TSI) which assess student perceptions of teacher behavior. After using the questionnaire with groups of students, the data were quantitatively analyzed, the questionnaire validated, and quantitative descriptions of teacher behavior obtained. To further validate the questionnaire and understand the teacher interactions according to the perceptions of students, a qualitative approach was used. Students were interviewed and the researchers visited and observed in science classrooms. (DDR)

This paper examines relationships between teachers and students. Data was gathered through administration of the 48-item version of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). At least 20 secondary science classes in three countries responded to the QTI indicating their perceptions of their science teachers' interpersonal behavior. Cross validation data is provided on the use of the QTI in the United States, Singapore, and Australia. Comparisons are made between the students' perceptions in each country. (Contains 25 references.) (DDR)

The purpose of this study was to determine associations between science and mathematics students' perceptions of their classroom learning environments, the cultural backgrounds and gender of students, and their attitudinal and achievement outcomes. The subjects were 3,994 students from 182 secondary school science and mathematics classes in 35 coeducational schools in Western Australia and Tasmania. The students completed a survey including the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), an attitude to class scale, and questions relating to cultural background. Statistical analyses have confirmed the reliability and validity of the QTI for secondary school science and mathematics students. Generally, the dimensions of the QTI were found to be significantly associated with student attitude scores. In particular, students' attitude scores were higher in classrooms in which students perceived greater leadership, helping/friendly, and understanding behaviors in their teachers. Females perceived their teachers in a more positive way than did males, and students from an Asian background tended to perceive their teachers more positively than those from the other cultural groups used in the study. (Contains 24 references). (Author/SPM)

The development and validation of a new instrument, the School-Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ), are described. The SLEQ measures teachers' perceptions of psychosocial dimensions of the environment of the school. The SLEQ consists of 56 items, each scored on a five-point scale, and grouped in eight scales: (1) student support; (2) affiliation; (3) professional interest; (4) staff freedom; (5) participatory decision making; (6) innovation; (7) resource adequacy; and (8) work pressure. The SLEQ was validated with three samples from Australian schools: 83 teachers from 19 metropolitan elementary and secondary schools in Sydney; 34 secondary school beginning teachers in New South Wales; and 109 elementary and secondary teachers in Tasmania. Results indicate that each SLEQ scale displayed satisfactory internal consistency with satisfactory discriminant validity results, suggesting that distinct, but somewhat overlapping, aspects of school environment were measured. The SLEQ was used, in the Tasmanian sample, to determine differences in the climates of elementary and secondary schools. It was also used to evaluate teachers' efforts to improve school environment in a study of 15 elementary teachers in a pretest/posttest evaluation of improvement efforts. Four tables and two graphs present data from these studies; an appendix provides the SLEQ. A 33-item list of references is included. (SLD)

Relationships between student affective and cognitive learning outcomes and their perceptions of classroom environment as measured by the Classroom Environment Scale (CES) were investigated for a sample of 1,083 students in 116 science classrooms. It was found that CES scales displayed satisfactory internal consistency and discriminant validity, and that each CES scale differentiated significantly between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. Six different statistical analyses (simple correlation, multiple correlation, and canonical correlation analysis conducted separately for raw posttest scores and residual posttest scores adjusted for corresponding pretest and general ability) were used to investigate environment-outcome relationships. The results of these different analyses taken together confirmed the existence of sizable and statistically significant associations between student learning outcomes and their classroom environment perceptions as measured by the CES. In particular, greater levels of classroom Order and Organizations were linked with greater student achievement of several outcomes. (Author)

This study reports on the development and validation of a questionnaire to assess student perceptions of the teacher-student interaction in Taiwan and Australia. The questionnaire is part of a cross-national study of science classroom environments in Taiwan and Australia. The questionnaire contains five domains: (1) higher-order questioning behavior; (2) encouragement and praise behavior; (3) non-verbal supportive behavior; (4) understanding and friendly behavior; and (5) strict behavior. The development process included the translation of the Chinese version into English, the back translation of the English version into Chinese again by people not involved in the original translation, and subsequent changes to wording where necessary. Following the translation, a pilot study was conducted in both countries which included interviews with students about their comprehension and interpretation of individual items in the questionnaire. Refinements were made to the questionnaire based on statistical analyses the interviews. Administration of the questionnaire to a total of 100 grade 7-9 science classes (N=2,397) from both Taiwan and Australia supported each scale's internal consistency, reliability, and validity. Contains 11 references. (Author/JRH)

Evaluated first use of a classroom environment instrument in a Year 1 class. Students responded to both the actual and preferred forms of the inventory. The teacher then implemented selected strategies in a practical attempt to improve the classroom environment in ways preferred by the students. Follow-up assessment indicated that the environment was changed in the desired direction. (AA)