Description:
This article reports research conducted on students’ perceptions of assessment in science classes in Queensland and Western Australia. A specially developed instrument, the Student Perceptions of Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) which assesses Congruence with Planned Learning, Authenticity, Student Consultation, Transparency, and Diversity was used to collect data from 3,055 students. Hierarchical cluster analysis resulted in a four cluster solution being accepted. While one cluster of 799 students held positive perceptions of assessment, another cluster of 640 students held negative views. The SPAQ allows for a greater focus on classroom-based perceptions of assessment rather than crude external accountability measures that decontextualise classroom assessment.
Description:
This article discusses the effect of clustering on statistical tests conducted with school environment data. Because most school environment studies involve the collection of data from teachers nested within schools, the hierarchical nature to these data cannot be ignored. In particular, this article considers the influence of intraschool correlations on tests of statistical significance conducted with the individual teacher as the unit of analysis. Theory that adjusts t test scores for nested data in two-group comparisons is presented and applied to school environment data. This article demonstrates that Type I error rates inflate greatly as the intraschool correlation increases. Because data analysis techniques that recognise the clustering of teachers in schools are essential, it is recommended that either multilevel analysis or adjustments to statistical parameters be undertaken in school environment studies involving nested data.
Description:
Personalised learning is now broadly endorsed as a key strategy to improve student curricular engagement and academic attainment, but there is also strong critique of this construct. We review claims made for this approach, as well as concerns about its conceptual coherence and effects on different learner cohorts. Drawing on literature around differentiation of the curriculum, self-regulated learning, and ‘relational agency’ we propose a framework for conceptualising and enacting this construct. We then report on an attempt to introduce personalised learning as one strategy, among several, to improve student academic performance and wellbeing in four low SES regional secondary schools in Australia. We report on a survey of 2407 students’ perceptions of the extent to which their school provided a personalised learning environment, and a case study of a programme within one school that aimed to apply a personalised approach to the mathematics curriculum. We found that while there were ongoing challenges in this approach, there was also evidence of success in the mathematics case.
Description:
This article discusses issues associated with statistical testing conducted with data from clustered school samples. Empirical researchers often conduct tests of statistical inference on sample data to ascertain the extent to which differences exist within groups in the population. Typically, much school‐related data are collected from students. These data are hierarchical because students are nested within classes within schools. This article studies the influence of this nesting on tests of statistical significance conducted with the student as the unit of analysis. Theory that adjusts F‐test scores for nested data in multi‐group comparisons is presented and applied to a teacher interaction dataset. The article demonstrates the potential impact of data hierarchy on the results of statistical testing if clustering is ignored. Data analysis techniques that recognize the clustering of students in classes are essential, and it is recommended that either multilevel analysis or adjustments to statistical parameters be undertaken in studies involving nested data.
Description:
Research aimed at developing and validating an instrument to assess middle school students’ perceptions of assessment was conducted. Following a review of literature, a tentative 6-scale instrument of 48 items was trialled with a sample of 320 students in 7 Australian schools. Based on internal consistency reliability data and exploratory factor analysis, refinement decisions resulted in a 5-scale instrument called the Student Perceptions of Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). The scales of the SPAQ are Congruence with Planned Learning, Authenticity, Student Consultation, Transparency, and Diversity. A sample of 3,098 students in 150 classrooms was used to validate the final SPAQ.
Description:
This article reports the development, validation and use of an instrument designed to provide teachers with feedback information, based on students’ perceptions, about their classroom environments. The instrument was developed to provide teachers with feedback that they could use to reflect on their teaching practices and, in turn, guide the implementation of strategies to improve their learning environments. To determine the validity and reliability of the new instrument, data from 2043 grade 11 and 12 students from 147 classes in 9 schools were analysed. The Rasch model was used to convert data collected using a frequency response scale into interval data that are suitable for parametric analyses. During an action research process, reflective journals, written feedback, discussions at a forum and interviews with eight teachers helped to illuminate the processes used by teachers during action research. This article reports the views of these teachers in general and examines more closely how one of the teachers used student responses to the learning environment questionnaire as a tool for reflection and as a guide in transforming her classroom environment. This case study helped us to gauge the extent to which action research based on students’ perceptions of the learning environment was useful in guiding teachers’ improvements of their classroom learning environments.
Description:
This research investigated some determinants of classroom environment in Australian Catholic high schools. The Catholic School Classroom Environment Questionnaire (CSCEQ) was used to assess 7 dimensions of the classroom psychosocial environment: student affiliation, interactions, cooperation, task orientation, order and organization, individualization, and teacher control. The sample consisted of 1,719 students from 80 classes in 20 Catholic coeducational and single-sex schools. Validation data attested to the soundstructural properties of the CSCEQ. Because the data were nested (i.e., students within classes within schools), multilevel analyses were used to investigate the influence of student gender, grade, subject, and school type on students 'perceptions of the classroom environment. Statistically significant associations between some of these grouping variables and some of the CSCEQ scales were evident, with student gender and grade the main explanatory variables. Variance in order and organization was not explained by any of the four hypothesized grouping variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Description:
This research investigated some determinants of classroom environment in Australian Catholic high schools. The Catholic School Classroom Environment Questionnaire (CSCEQ) was used to assess 7 dimensions of the classroom psychosocial environment: student affiliation, interactions, cooperation, task orientation, order and organization, individualization, and teacher control. The sample consisted of 1,719 students from 80 classes in 20 Catholic coeducational and single-sex schools. Validation data attested to the soundstructural properties of the CSCEQ. Because the data were nested (i.e., students within classes within schools), multilevel analyses were used to investigate the influence of student gender, grade, subject, and school type on students 'perceptions of the classroom environment. Statistically significant associations between some of these grouping variables and some of the CSCEQ scales were evident, with student gender and grade the main explanatory variables. Variance in order and organization was not explained by any of the four hypothesized grouping variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Description:
This article describes the validation of scores on actual and preferred forms of the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC). The WIHIC is a 56-item instrument that assesses seven classroom environment dimensions: Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Investigation, Task Orientation, Cooperation and Equity. A sample of 978 secondary school students from Australia responded to actual and preferred forms of the WIHIC. Separate confirmatory factor analyses for the actual and preferred forms supported the seven-scale a priori structure of the instrument. Fit statistics indicated a good fit of the models to the data. The use of multitrait-multimethod modelling with the seven scales as traits and the two forms of the instrument as methods supported the WIHIC’s construct validity. This research has provided strong evidence of the sound psychometric properties of the WIHIC.
Description:
This paper reports the reanalysis of data collected in a study of 3 determinants of classroom environment (viz. year level, subject, and school type) using multivariate analysis of variance and multilevel analysis. Data were collected from 2,211 students in Queensland Catholic and government schools. The Catholic School Classroom Environment Questionnaire, which assesses student affiliation, interactions, cooperation, task orientation, order and organisation, individualisation, and teacher control, was administered to the sample. The original multivariate analyses which used the class as the unit of analysis were supplemented by similar analyses using the student as the unit of analysis and multilevel analyses. While multilevel analyses yielded tests of significance results similar to multivariate analyses conducted with the class as the unit of analysis, effect sizes for the multilevel analyses were similar to those reported for multivariate tests conducted with the student as the unit of analysis.
Description:
This study reports the first development in Australia of primary science teacher typologies of teacher–student interpersonal behaviour, which was measured by students’ perceptions using the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Earlier work with the QTI in The Netherlands has revealed eight different interpersonal styles, which were later confirmed with an American sample of secondary-school teachers and which were similar to types found with Australian secondary-school science teachers. The present study investigated the extent to which typologies found in earlier studies also apply to primary teachers. A cluster analysis was used to determine Australian typologies and to compare these with earlier findings. Prior typologies could only be partially confirmed, and the found typology of six styles was able to explain variance in both student outcomes and perceptions of cultural elements of the learning environment.
Description:
This paper discusses the effect of clustering on statistical tests and illustrates this effect using classroom environment data. Most classroom environment studies involve the collection of data from students nested within classrooms and the hierarchical nature to these data cannot be ignored. In particular, this paper studies the influence of intraclass correlations on tests of statistical significance conducted with the individual as the unit of analysis. Theory that adjusts t‐test scores for nested data in two‐group comparisons is presented and applied to classroom environment data. This paper demonstrates that Type I error rates inflate greatly as the intraclass correlation increases. Data analysis techniques that recognise the clustering of students in classrooms in classroom environment studies are essential, and it is recommended that either multilevel analysis or adjustments to statistical parameters be undertaken in studies involving nested data.
Description:
In this paper we examine how agency is characterised by teachers and students when personalised learning is enacted in the contemporary open classroom. A case study is outlined that identifies teacher reasoning for practice, the use of physical and virtual learning spaces, and student reaction to teacher facilitation of personalised learning. Agency is conceptualised as a multi-faceted set of behavioural, affective and cognitive choices, as realised by both teachers and students, drawing upon the action possibilities of contemporary educational contexts. A model of the mutuality of teacher and student agency is outlined. The model shows how a shared understanding of the affordances of flexible learning spaces and personalised learning interact to both produce teacher and student expectations and perceptions of their own and other's choices and actions. Specific student choices and actions are examined in relation to problem-solving and open access of resources to achieve the task requirements. Implications are noted for teaching and learning in modern school contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Description:
This research investigated associations between classroom environment and student affective outcomes in Australian secondary schools. The Technology-Rich Outcomes-Focused Learning Environment Inventory (TROFLEI) was used to assess 10 classroom environment dimensions: student cohesiveness, teacher support, involvement, investigation, task orientation, cooperation, equity, differentiation, computer usage, and young adult ethos. A sample of 4,407 secondary school students from 286 classes in Queensland and Western Australia responded to the TROFLEI and three student outcome measures: academic efficacy, attitude to the subject, and attitude to computer use. Multilevel analyses with the 10 TROFLEI scales as explanatory variables and the three outcome scales as response variables were conducted. Statistically significant associations between classroom environment and these student affective outcomes were evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] (AN: 48688520)
Description:
This paper reports on part of a large-scale study aimed at examining students’ perceptions of assessment. This paper will report on a study utilising mixed methodology in 150 Australian middle school classrooms. The purpose of the study described in this paper was to use the Students’ Perceptions of Assessment Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (SPAQ) to identify and describe exemplary science teachers. With a sample of over 3000 science students, the reliability of the SPAQ scales ranged from 0.62 to 0.82. The exemplary teachers were identified as those whose students’ perceptions were more than one standard deviation above the mean on three of the five scales of Congruence with planned learning, Transparency, Authenticity, Student consultation, and Diversity. The construct validity of the SPAQ to identify these exemplary teachers was confirmed through interviews with students and these views are reported in the article.
Description:
The paper reports on part of a large-scale study aimed at examining students’ perceptions of teacher–student interactions. This paper will report on a study utilising mixed methodology in 12 Queensland primary classrooms. After the students’ perceptions were established, the teachers, through a consultative process, developed strategies to change the students’ perceptions of their classroom over a 3 month period. The paper reports on what strategies these teachers utilised and what changes in students’ perceptions resulted. The classroom teachers were interviewed about the change in students’ perceptions, what changes they had sought to promote in their classrooms, and what they felt had been achieved in their classrooms. The study found that students were able to articulate what changes the teacher had implemented, what their reaction was to these changes and their perception of the classroom environment as a result of these implemented strategies.