An Analysis of the Relationship between Academic Burnout and Classroom Assessment Environment

Mustafa İlhan,Bayram Çeti̇n

doi:10.15390/eb.2014.3335

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to examine the relationship between academic burnout and the classroom assessment environment. A causal–comparative model was employed in this study, which was carried out with 496 high school students in the provinces of Batman and Diyarbakir in Turkey in the spring of 2013–2014. The Maslach Burnout Inventory–Student Form (MBI-SF), which was developed by Schaufeli et al. (2002) and adapted into Turkish by Capri, Gunduz and Gokcakan (2011), was employed in the study to measure the students’ levels of academic burnout. Then, in order to determine the students’ perceptions of the classroom assessment environment, the Classroom Assessment Environment Scale (CAES), which was developed by the researchers of this study, was used. Cluster analysis was performed with the purpose of grouping students who have similar perceptions of the classroom assessment environment. This analysis produced three separate clusters. Then, analysis of variance was performed in order to determine whether the students’ levels of academic burnout differed by the groups that had emerged out of the cluster analysis. The findings demonstrated that the students’ levels of academic burnout differed significantly in accordance with their perceptions of the classroom assessment environment. Therefore, it could be suggested that the students’ perceptions of the classroom assessment environment constitute a significant variable for the prediction of their levels of academic burnout.

Highlights

The Concept of Burnout Burnout, which is among the most important problems of modern times (Capulcuoglu & Gunduz), was first theorized in the 1970s by Freudenberger
Based on the score intervals that were taken as reference when interpreting the Classroom Assessment Environment Scale (CAES), it could be stated that cluster 1 students have low learning-oriented perceptions and high performanceoriented perceptions of the classroom assessment environment
Based on the score intervals that were taken as a point of reference when interpreting the CAES, it could be stated that cluster 2 students have high learning-oriented perceptions and low performance-oriented perceptions of the classroom assessment environment

Summary

Introduction

The Concept of Burnout Burnout, which is among the most important problems of modern times (Capulcuoglu & Gunduz), was first theorized in the 1970s by Freudenberger. Individuals who experience emotional exhaustion feel that they lack the energy required to start a new work day or a new task. The second dimension of burnout is desensitization, which refers to the loss of idealist emotions about and interest in a given task (Maslach & Goldberg, 1998), and the person exhibits negative, insensitive, and rigid attitudes towards individuals that he/she needs to interact with as part of the work (Kim, Lee, Kim, Choi & Lee, 2014). Decline in the feeling of personal accomplishment constitutes the third dimension of burnout This dimension is characterized by the individual’s tendency to perform negative self-evaluations (Skaalvik & Skaalvik); he or she experiences feelings of inefficacy when fulfilling the requirements of a task (Yang, 2004)

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Discussion

Conclusion