Associations between students' perceptions of classroom environment and academic efficacy in Australian and British secondary schools

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Pupil grouping and organisation of classes
Pupil Voice
Self evaluation
Mathematics

The study aims and design

The study aimed to explore links between classroom environment and self-efficacy: specifically, how students perceived the learning environment of their mathematics classrooms and how this related to their own perceptions about their level of competence in the subject. They reviewed other research in the fields of academic efficacy and classroom environment and undertook empirical research to investigate whether specific aspects of classroom environment were linked to measures of student academic efficacy.

2651 mathematics students in Years 8,10 and 12 from nine Australian and sixteen British secondary schools took part. They were asked to complete two questionnaires during a mathematics lesson. Both questionnaires required students to respond on a five-point scale ranging from ‘almost never’ to ‘almost always’. One questionnaire set out to measure academic efficacy in mathematics and included seven items, such as: “I can do almost all the maths class work if I don’t give up” and “Even if the maths is hard, I can learn it.” The other questionnaire consisted of 60 questions intended to provide a comprehensive assessment of the classroom environment.

This questionnaire was composed of 42 items on seven scales taken from the What Is Happening In This Classroom? (WIHIC) instrument and 18 items on three scales derived from The Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES). The latter was included to see whether constructivist environments had any specific effects on efficacy. The table below explains the ten measures of classroom environment used for the study.

The researchers analysed student responses using a range of statistical methods in order to discover any correlations between different aspects of classroom environment and students’ academic efficacy. The results were analysed at the level of the year group in order to minimise the impact of individual bias.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What does it mean to gather evidence about classroom environment? What did the study find out about the relationship between classroom environment and student self-belief? What did the researchers conclude from the findings? The study aims and design What are the implications for head teachers and teachers? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader Associations between students' perceptions of classroom environment and academic efficacy in Australian and British secondary schools This digest found in Pupil grouping and organisation of classes Pupil Voice Self evaluation Mathematics Send to a friend Word doc 90KB Printer friendly Collate for later The study aims and design The study aimed to explore links between classroom environment and self-efficacy: specifically, how students perceived the learning environment of their mathematics classrooms and how this related to their own perceptions about their level of competence in the subject. They reviewed other research in the fields of academic efficacy and classroom environment and undertook empirical research to investigate whether specific aspects of classroom environment were linked to measures of student academic efficacy. 2651 mathematics students in Years 8,10 and 12 from nine Australian and sixteen British secondary schools took part. They were asked to complete two questionnaires during a mathematics lesson. Both questionnaires required students to respond on a five-point scale ranging from ‘almost never’ to ‘almost always’. One questionnaire set out to measure academic efficacy in mathematics and included seven items, such as: “I can do almost all the maths class work if I don’t give up” and “Even if the maths is hard, I can learn it.” The other questionnaire consisted of 60 questions intended to provide a comprehensive assessment of the classroom environment. This questionnaire was composed of 42 items on seven scales taken from the What Is Happening In This Classroom? (WIHIC) instrument and 18 items on three scales derived from The Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES). The latter was included to see whether constructivist environments had any specific effects on efficacy. The table below explains the ten measures of classroom environment used for the study. The researchers analysed student responses using a range of statistical methods in order to discover any correlations between different aspects of classroom environment and students’ academic efficacy. The results were analysed at the level of the year group in order to minimise the impact of individual bias.