This study used an instrument to examine undergraduate students' preferred and actual learning environment perceptions in an introductory earth science course. The results show that science students expect to learn in a learning environment combining teacher-centred and student-centred approaches. However, an expectation incongruence was found in that the instruction did not match with the students' preference on student-centred learning environment in this course. The results carry important implications in the interpretation of students' classroom behaviours and their school culture background. It is noted that students and teachers perceive differently whether the classroom environment is constructed as being student-centred. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)