The effect of learning environment factors on students ...

The effect of learning environment factors on students ' motivation and learning Mary Hanrahan, Centre for Mathematics and Science Education, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Copyright 1998 Taylor & Francis Published in: International Journal of Science Education 20 (6) p 737-753 This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here with permission of the publisher for your personal use. Not for redistribution. See publisher s website for the definitive published version. Abstract This paper reports a qualitative study of the learning environment of a Year 11 Biology class. The research was originally framed in a constructivist epistemology, but was also informed by an emancipatory interest. The main methods used for data gathering were participant observation, interviewing, and a written response survey (CES, Tobin, 1993a). It was found that, even though the students viewed the class positively, and described themselves as highly motivated to learn, the level of cognitive engagement was affected by two interrelated factors : the control the teacher had over almost all activities, and student beliefs about learning in this context.

somewhat unstructured and was achieved largely through regular journal writing and analytic memoranda where I analysed and tested my developing hypotheses in an intuitive rather than a more obviously systematic way. This personal writing was based on notes taken during daily observation in the classroom, and during the interviews and

Tags:

  Learning, Interview, Environment, Learning environments, Unstructured

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