Faculty perceptions of college classroom environment

Abstract

ABSTRACT Classroom environment, the psychosocial milieu of the classroom, has been studied actively for over two decades. Ignored in this work, though, have been studies of college faculty perceptions of classroom environment. The present research examined 31 college professors' perceptions of their large freshman and sophomore lecture classes as well as the professors' self-perceptions using ratings on 26 Semantic Differential rating scales. Professors' self ratings and class ratings showed significant positive correlations both at the beginning and at the end of a semester. It is concluded that perceptions of classroom environment are linked to self-perceptions. The large college classroom appears to be sufficiently ambiguous that professors' perceptions of classroom environment reflect a self-projecting tendency.