Proponents of performance assessments purport that they allow more options for student choice and autonomy and, therefore, are more motivating and more preferred by students. This study explored the role of stakes and the student's familiarity with the format in these examination preferences. A survey of 148 college students suggested that: their…

The purposes of this study were to examine how Turkish students perceived their biology classroom environment, how their perceptions compared to those of students in other countries, and what classroom learning environment profiles could be discerned in Turkish high school biology classrooms. Data were gathered from 1,474 high school students in…

The Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI) is used to examine teachers' teaching approaches in higher education. Analyses into the validity and reliability of the original English ATI yielded positive results. In this study, we examined the degree to which these positive results can also be found for the Dutch version that we developed. Data were…

This study investigated facets of the teaching and learning environment which motivate student learning. Interviews were conducted with 36 students from nine representative undergraduate degree programs in Hong Kong. The interviewees were asked to describe teaching approaches and learning activities typical of their program. They were asked about…

The focus of this study was the classroom climate for Grades 4, 5 and 6 students during mathematics classes in elementary schools in the Arab sector in Israel. The study included 3,786 Arab students. The use of a questionnaire indicated that five major factors related to classroom climate were Satisfaction and Enjoyment, Teacher-Student…

It has been argued by both educationalists and social researchers that visual methods are particularly appropriate for the investigation of people's experiences of the school environment. The current and expected building work taking place in British schools provides an opportunity for exploration of methods, as well as a need to establish ways to…

A major challenge for learning theories is to illuminate how particular kinds of learning experiences and environments promote the development of expertise. Research has been conducted into novice-expert differences in various domains, but few studies have examined the processes involved in learners' expertise development. In an attempt to…

Starting from difficulties that students display when they deal with correlation analysis, an e-learning environment ("Koralle") was developed. The design was inspired by principles of situated and example-based learning. In order to facilitate reflective processes and thus enhance learning outcomes, reflection prompts were integrated into the…

Professional schools prepare students to become competent professionals. Consequently, there is a need for assessments that can determine the acquisition of the relevant professional competencies. Although using performance assessment to replace traditional paper-and-pencil tests might provide one way to move forward, the use of performance…

In this study, we assessed the feasibility of a specific elaboration of the efficacy construct, distinguishing between personal and contextual aspects, as a criterion for comparing learning environments. The participants were 163 students from two student-regulated and two teacher-regulated programs in higher education. We measured students'…

The primary aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of a Turkish version of the Distance Education Learning Environment Survey (DELES) in post-secondary distance education. The second aim was to investigate empirically the conceptualisation of the distance education learning environment as a singular latent construct, within…

We examined the relationship between English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' interpersonal behaviour and students' fluency in English in secondary education in China. A total of 160 students from four classes in the southwest part of China were asked to assess their teachers' interpersonal behaviour using the Questionnaire on Teacher…

The article reports the findings of a study conducted to inform a teacher preparation program of the extent to which they were providing students with experiences consistent with the program goals. The Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) was administered three times to participants in a 1-year program for graduate students seeking…

There are few available instruments that assess students' perceptions of university teaching and learning environments and can be used to provide diagnostic feedback, at the degree or program level, on the quality of the environment. This article describes the development, testing and application, for quality assurance purposes, of a suitable…

The purpose of this study was to examine students' psychosocial perceptions of their science classroom learning environment in order to identify exemplary teachers. This mixed-method study used the valid and reliable What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire with over 3,000 middle school students in 150 classrooms in Australia.…