Middle school students' perceptions of science classroom learning environments

Abstract

This study utilized the What Is Happening In this Class (WIHIC) questionnaire to examine students' perceptions of their science learning environment. Data was collected from 587 middle school students in seven coeducation schools in Seoul. Higher mean scores occurred on the scales of Student cohesiveness, Task orientation, Cooperation and Equity in the WIHIC, whereas lower mean scores occurred on Teacher support, Involvement and Investigation. The effects of gender on students' perceptions of their science learning environment were not statistically significant overall, but girls perceived Student cohesiveness and Cooperation more positively than boys. Correlations between the WIHIC scales of the low-level group that perceived their learning environments negatively (10 percentiles) and the high-level group that perceived their learning environments positively (90 percentiles) were computed. Teacher support, Involvement, Task Orientation and Investigation were highly correlated with each other in the low-level group, whereas only Teacher support and Equity were correlated in the high group. Educational implications were discussed.