Cross-Validation in Singapore of the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory

Abstract

This paper reports the cross-validation in Singapore of the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory, which assesses students' perceptions of psychosocial aspects of their science laboratory classroom environments. The sample consisted of 1,592 final year secondary school, i.e., Grade 10, chemistry students from 56 intact classes from 28 randomly selected coeducational government secondary schools in Singapore. This instrument, which has separate forms measuring students' perceptions of the actual and ideal (preferred) learning environment, comprises five scales: Student Cohesiveness, Open-endedness, Integration, Rule Clarity, and Material Environment. The study provided cross-validation support for use in Singapore in either its actual or preferred form and with either the individual student or the class mean as the unit of analysis. Each scale exhibited satisfactory internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity, factorial validity, predictive validity, and ability to differentiate among classes.