The research reported in this thesis is an in-depth study of teacher-student interactions and science classroom learning environments in Jammu, India. Jammu city is the winter capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, situated at the extreme north of India. This is the first time that any learning environment research has been conducted and reported from this part of the world.The objective of this research was to provide further validation information about two already existing learning environment instruments with Indian students and describe, discuss and analyse information on the associations between students perceptions of learning environment and their attitudes and cognitive achievements. Differences in the perceptions of different groups namely gender, religious and cultural were also investigated.The present study commenced with a more positivistic framework, with an aim of providing a large-scale quantitative overview. The Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), the What is Happening in this Class? (WIHIC) and an Attitude Scale were administered to 1,021 students from 32 science classes in seven different co-educational private schools in Jammu.The data were analysed to determine the reliability, validity and mean of each scale. Students were interviewed to determine further the reliability of the questionnaires, in addition to providing information that might explain the QTI and WIHIC mean scale scores. As a result of critical reflection, the study moved towards a more interpretative framework, drawing on elements of the constructivist and critical theory paradigms. Multiple research methods were used to member and deepen the researchers understanding of the learning environments in Jammu. An educational critique was used to describe the social and cultural factors that could influence the prevailing learning environments .

Toute étude scientifique commence par une question de recherche. Cependant, trouver la réponse à cette question reste un défi qui peut être relevé dans certains cas, mais qui risque dans d’autres de déboucher sur d’autres questions. Ces dernières pourront former une clé ou un pont permettant dans un futur proche ou lointain de répondre à la question initiale de recherche. La présente étude doctorale n’échappe pas à ce constat. Elle a été menée à partir d’une première question de recherche avide de savoir comment les jeunes élèves tunisiens (du secondaire) perçoivent les comportements interpersonnels de leurs enseignantes et enseignants d’éducation physique et sportive (ÉPS). Nous avons découvert à travers notre recension des écrits sur ce sujet que la documentation scientifique est étonnamment pauvre en informations relatives à l’environnement d’apprentissage (EA) et plus spécifiquement en ce qui a trait à la dimension relationnelle dans le contexte scolaire arabe (MacLeod et Fraser, 2010). En conséquence, et en tant que chercheuse d’origine arabe, valider un questionnaire tenant compte des particularités linguistiques et culturelles des habitants de cette partie du monde est une priorité motivée aussi bien par des raisons scientifiques (sujet original) que personnelles (l’origine de la chercheuse principale). Nous avons par ailleurs choisi de valider la version courte (32 items) du « Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction » (QTI) qui a été traduite et adaptée en français par Lapointe et Legault (1999). Le choix de ce questionnaire est expliqué principalement par la place qu’il occupe dans la documentation scientifique traitant de l’EA et plus spécifiquement de la dimension relationnelle. Nous anticipions que sa validation permettrait non seulement de répondre à notre question de départ, mais qu’elle conduirait aussi à initier les recherches sur l’EA dans la partie nord-africaine du monde arabe, plus spécifiquement en Tunisie. Cet objectif nous a permis de rédiger le premier article de cette thèse qui se veut une continuité des études ayant validé le QTI dans le monde et a permis au QTI, qui a fait l’objet de plus de 40 études basées sur des différents types de validation dans plusieurs pays (ex. : la France, la Turquie, la Chine, etc.), de franchir pour la première fois les frontières du monde arabe, à travers l’exemple de la Tunisie. Contrairement à ce qui est attendu, nous avons découvert que le QTI ne possède pas des qualités psychométriques suffisantes (fidélité et validité) pour étudier l’EA tunisien. Cependant, une nouvelle structure statistiquement robuste a émergé de l’analyse des données collectées en Tunisie (article 1). Nous supposons qu’elle pourrait mieux décrire les perceptions des élèves accordées aux comportements interpersonnels de leurs enseignantes et enseignants, pour peu qu’elle soit fondée théoriquement à l’avenir. Dans le but d’expliquer la non-validation du QTI dans le contexte tunisien, nous avons recensé aussi bien les études traitant les démarches de validation des questionnaires psychométriques en général que ceux traitant spécifiquement de la validation des différentes versions du QTI. Ce travail nous a permis de constater que, dans la plupart des cas, les démarches de vérification des qualités psychométriques des questionnaires, que ce soit en éducation, en psychologie, en communication, sont entachées par la présence de lacunes méthodologiques et statistiques plus ou moins sévères (Bourque, Poulin et Cleaver, 2006). Plus spécifiquement, c’est l’usage inapproprié des analyses factorielles (AF) comme méthode de validation factorielle qui semble être problématique (Beavers, Lounsbury, Richards, Huck et Skolits et Esquivel, 2013). En conséquence, nous avons rédigé notre deuxième article qui offre une première critique approfondie des démarches et processus mis en œuvre par de nombreuses équipes de recherche à travers le monde pour vérifier les qualités psychométriques du QTI (passage du contexte tunisien vers le monde). À notre connaissance, Dumas (2009) et den Brok, Fisher, Brekelmans, Rickards, Wubbels, Levy et al. (2003a) sont les seuls à avoir abordé ce sujet. Cependant, il n’était pas dans leur intention de faire la critique de ce questionnaire, se contenant tout simplement de soulever l’existence de quelques faiblesses. Les résultats de ce présent article ont mis en évidence l’existence de lacunes de plusieurs ordres au niveau des démarches de validation des différentes versions du QTI. Toutefois, nous ne savons pas où se situent les démarches de validation de la version courte-française utilisée dans cette thèse par rapport aux critiques soulevées. Nous n’avons trouvé aucune étude traitant de ce sujet. Par ailleurs, nous avons poursuivi notre examen critique des démarches de validation du QTI en fixant comme troisième objectif la revérification des qualités psychométriques de la version courte du QTI dans un contexte dans laquelle cette version est censée être valide, à savoir le contexte québécois. Ladite version a été validée par Lapointe et Legault (1999) et exploitée par Dumas (2009) dans le contexte de l’éducation physique et à la santé. Ce dernier a accepté de nous fournir sa base de données anonymisées qui nous a permis de rédiger notre troisième article qui renferme une comparaison entre deux types de démarches d’AF : la première comprend les mêmes étapes d’AF que celles utilisées par les chercheurs qui ont validé le QTI dans le passé, même si elles ne correspondent pas aux étapes exigées par les experts des AF. Nous avons essayé dans la deuxième de respecter les critères et étapes recommandés par les spécialistes des AF (ex. : Osborne et Costello, 2009). Nous avons choisi de bien décrire cette démarche dans le but d’offrir au lectorat francophone un guide détaillé sur l’usage approprié des AF vu que la plupart des guides sont en anglais. Les résultats de cet article permettent de porter un jugement sur le degré de rigueur de la version courte du QTI. Ceci a engendré des zones d’ombre sur la crédibilité des résultats publiés antérieurement sur l’EA au Québec à partir de cette version. Ils permettent aussi d’avancer les connaissances méthodologiques et statistiques en termes de mésusages (démarche 1) et de bons usages des AF (démarche 2). En résumé, nous n’avons pas pu répondre à notre question de départ en raison des contraintes temporelles et budgétaires. Néanmoins, cette question a bifurqué vers des considérations d'ordre méthodologique qui nous a permis de contester la perspective bidimentionnelle de la relation ensiegnant-élève partagée depuis plus de 25 ans par les chercheurs qui ont utilisé le QTI en offrant une nouvelle perspective uni-axiale qui peut être appliquée aussi bien en Tunisie qu’au Québec.

I den här undersökningen översätts den internationellt använda studien QTI till svenska och delas ut till svenska gymnasieungdomar. Enkäten är tänkt att undersöka hur eleverna ser på sina lärare och relationen till dem. Enkäten utvärderas i uppsatsen och förslag på förbättringar ges. En genomsnittslärare tas fram utifrån resultaten, som visar på att svenska gymnasielärare är duktiga på att skapa fungerande klassrumsrelationer med sina elever, men då enkätens teman inte korrelerar fullständigt är det resultatet något osäkert.

The major purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between teacherstudent interpersonal behaviour in the middle level of schooling with the students' academic achievement in science as determined by the term grade (typically issued after a six or nine week grading period). The study also provided validation data for the Questionnaire on Teacher Interactions (QTI) survey instrument with a large American sample of students and teachers drawn from randomly selected the State of Ohio schools. The QTI was designed to elicit students' and teachers' perspectives of effective teaching and learning in classrooms. Numerous studies, here and abroad, during the last five years and have caused awareness that students' perceptions of their school experience are a significant influence on how and what students learn in the classroom. Few studies have been conducted on the topic of student perceptions in comparison to their respective teachers' perceptions in science or how this variance might influence student achievement. The focus of the present study was to compare the perceptions of students and their teachers regarding effective teaching and learning, while concurrently noting students' achievement in science. This study presumed that there was a definite disparity between what teachers perceive to be effective teaching and learning in comparison to what students perceive. The intention of the study was to identify some of the factors associated with any disparity. The hypothesis for the study, simply stated, was that student achievement, according to student's accumulative grade, would reflect a variance in perception with that of their science teacher. / Restated, the student's perception of effective teaching and learning could demonstrate to be a strong indicator of academic success or failure, depending upon the extent of difference with their respective teachers'. The research design of the study was based on the survey research method incorporating: 1) student and teacher questionnaires; 2) student and teacher interviews and; 3) students' science achievement, as measured in a teacher-issued grade. A probability sample of 433 middle school students was surveyed using the 48-item short form of the Australian version of the QTI (Wubbels, 1993). This sample comprised 21 middle level science classes, ranging from grade 5 through grade 9. Twelve cooperating science teachers associated with the teaching of science to these students were also surveyed using Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). In addition, random interviews were conducted using interview logs with 6 teachers and 6 students selected from a convenience sample of those also responding to the questionnaire. Another major component of the research design was the term grade recorded by the cooperating science teacher, as a means of gauging "student academic achievement". All student and teacher questionnaire data were statistically analysed using Microsoft Excel 2000 and the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) for Windows 1999. The analysis was according to the proper categories in the QTI based on leadership, helpful/friendly, understanding, student responsibility and freedom, uncertain, and dissatisfied, admonishing and strict behaviour established in the QTI. / The use of both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods from a range of data sources provided a means of triangulation to strengthen the validity of the findings, which thus afforded a means of comparing data consistency and cross validation for the purpose of improving the rigour of the research design. As a means of collecting empirical data, schools were randomly chosen (probability sample) from the 20001-2002 Ohio Educational Directory, a directory produced by the Ohio Department of Education. Thirty-three schools were drawn. Between October 20002 and January 2003, each school was sent two letters inviting their participation in the study; one letter was sent to the on-site principal and one to the "head science teacher". Five weeks from the date the original letter was sent out to those not responding. Eventually, twenty-one classes returned their surveys for analysis. The Questionnaire of Teacher Interaction (QTI) was chosen due to its record of validity and its ease of administering. The qualitative data were tallied and recorded. The quantitative data analysis was completed using both manual and computerised methods to address the objectives of this study.

The major aim of this study was to investigate the use of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) in health science classrooms in Tasmania, Australia. In the past, the QTI has been used in a number of learning areas. However, it has not been used in the learning area of health science.This study involved 1,471 grade 9 and grade 10 health science students and their teachers in 75 classes. The QTI was used to study student and teacher perceptions of health science teacher interpersonal behaviour.Statistical analyses revealed that the QTI is a valid and reliable instrument for use in health science classrooms. Quantitative results from the QTI were supported by qualitative data including comments from the students and a reflective narrative of the experiences of the researcher as a health science teacher.An investigation into the associations between QTI scales and student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes revealed that all scales of the QTI related to student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes in health science classrooms. It is, however, the scales of Leadership and Helping/Friendly which make the greatest positive influence to student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes.Health science students perceived their teachers as displaying high levels of leadership, helping/friendly and understanding behaviour, and low levels of uncertain, dissatisfied and admonishing behaviour. Teachers generally perceived themselves in a more favourable manner than their students did.The students also perceived the less experienced teachers as less dominant and more oppositional compared to teachers with more experience. Female health science students generally perceived their teachers in a more positive way than male students and male students, in general, have better attitudes to health science lessons.

Along with the development of Internet and information technology, there has been a huge revolution on the style of learning, since we¡¦ve entered a new century of elearning. At the present time, the learning resources accumulating in the Internet has been richer gradually. However, it also shows the problem about the difficulties of the management and integration of learning resources. Plenty of problems should be resolved, such as the difficulty on seeking resources and tests, low reusability, incapability of the transformation on different learning platforms, etc. On purpose to resolve these problems, various kinds of standards have been presented by many organizations. Although these standards are still under development, however, undoubtedly, they will play a very important role on the progress of the elearning. Because of the shortage of understandings and researches of this respect, we will have some discussions about the present problems resolved by the standards of elearning and the methods used upon them. Bereday¡¦s Comparative Method is adapted in this research. Four specific phases described as follows: Description Phase: Thoroughly and objectively describing each elearning standard. Interpretation Phase: Interpreting the meaning contained in the elearning standard according to the perspective of modularity, management, and continuity. Juxtaposition Phase: Defining the items on the comparison of each dimension based on content, quiz, leaner, and platform, and then concluding the key points of each standard in each item. Comparison Phase: Comparing each elearning standard item by item that is listed in the Juxtaposition Phase.

This dissertation is a study about affection in the classroom, in the school context, in a school of the federal teaching network in Sergipe, involving a subject like physics. When done, there was a concern for obtaining the viewpoints of both the professor of the discipline and his students about the interactions that involved them, particularly affective interactions. Information acquisition was accomplished in a second year classroom of a high school located in Grande Aracaju, of specific characteristics. The research tools included observation and recording of the developing classes, to apply a questionnaire on teacher interaction and interviews made to both teacher and six students chosen according to their scores in the discipline physics. The approach on affection in the views of Henri Wallon, Lev Vygotsky, Daniel Goleman and Howard Garner, among the main read authors, was adopted here for the analyses of data obtained. Based on this study, postural categories of proximity, responsiveness, attention, physical contact and facial expression related to the processes of teacher-student interaction were identified. Furthermore, the answers given to the questionnaire showed that teachers and students had a similar view on the profile of the teacher. This profile presents a major affective component that explains what was observed in classroom and corroborates what was expressed by each interviewed participant. The study, its methodology and forms of analysis, can help schools and teachers to improve their teaching duties. / Esta dissertação é um estudo realizado sobre a afetividade em sala de aula, no contexto do ensino médio em um colégio da rede federal de ensino de Sergipe, envolvendo uma disciplina como a física. Ao executá-lo, houve uma preocupação por obter os pontos de vista do professor da disciplina e dos seus alunos sobre as interações que os envolviam, particularmente as interações afetivas. A coleta de informações foi realizada em uma turma do segundo ano do ensino médio, situada na Grande Aracaju, de características específicas. Os instrumentos de pesquisa incluíram observação e registro do desenvolvimento de aulas, aplicação de um questionário sobre interação do professor e entrevistas com o professor da turma e com seis alunos selecionados segundo as médias que possuíam na disciplina física. A abordagem sobre a afetividade nas visões de Henri Wallon e Lev Vygotsky, entre os principais autores lidos, foi adotada aqui para parte das análises dos dados obtidos. Com base nesse estudo foram identificadas as categorias posturais de proximidade, receptividade, atenção, contato físico e expressão facial relacionadas aos processos da interação professoraluno. Além disso, através do levantamento das respostas do questionário, professor e alunos mostraram ter uma visão similar sobre o perfil do professor. Esse perfil apresenta uma componente afetiva importante que explica o observado em sala de aula e corrobora o manifestado por cada envolvido nas entrevistas. O estudo, com sua metodologia e formas de análise, poderá ajudar a escolas e professores a melhorar em suas funções de ensino.

The first purpose of the study described in this thesis was to provide validation information of three questionnaires that were modified and translated into the Thai language, namely, the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), and the Attitude to Biology Class (ABC). A second purpose was to determine students' perceptions of teacher-student interactions and laboratory learning environments and their attitudes to biology classes in secondary schools in Thailand. A sample of 1,194 students from 37 biology classes in 37 schools completed the three questionnaires. The results of the study showed that most students in secondary schools of Thailand have moderately positive attitudes to their biology class. Students perceived their teachers as having good leadership, being helping/friendly, and understanding, but seldom uncertain, dissatisfied or admonishing. They also perceived that sometimes their teachers were strict, however allowing students responsibility and freedom. In biology laboratories, they perceived the environments as employing good student cohesiveness, less open-endedness and integration of the theory and practical, the rules were not clear and the materials were not good and insufficient. There were differences between students' actual and ideal perceptions of classroom interactions and laboratory learning environments. Students preferred teachers who showed strong leadership, were more helping and understanding, who gave their students more responsibility and freedom, and who were less uncertain, dissatisfied, admonishing and strict. / Also, students preferred a biology laboratory environment with higher levels on the scales of Open-Endedness, Integration, Rule Clarity, and Material Environment but not Student Cohesiveness. Some commonality between the QTI and the SLEI scales was found in their contributions to the variance in student attitudes to biology classes. So now the QTI and the SLEI can be used by biology teachers and other science teachers in secondary schools who wish to improve science teaching and learning in Thailand.

This longitudinal study explored the extent to which mathematics education lecturers' constructivist beliefs and aligned practices were communicated to students in a New Zealand primary pre-service teacher education degree programme. An integral part of this exploration was the identification of particular aspects of lecturers' practice that had a significant impact in enhancing the adoption of constructivist ideas on learning and constructivist-aligned teaching practices by student teachers. This goal had a practical focus on more effective course teaching within the chosen philosophical framework of constructivism. At a more theoretical level, there was a focus on the development of a constructivist approach to teacher education for teacher educators through the medium of mathematics education. A potential outcome of the development and widespread adoption of such a constructivist-aligned pedagogy within teacher education could be the significant furthering of a "reform" (or transformative) agenda in school education with its potential for enhanced learning by children. The methodology comprised both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) techniques to collect information which allowed the capture of different but complementary data, so building a "rich" data set. The surveys were conducted using two leaming environment instruments underpinned by particular constructivist perspectives: one focusing on the overall nature of the learning environment at an individual level from a critical constructivist perspective, and the other focusing on the nature of interactions between teacher and student teachers at a classroom level from a socio-cultural constructivist perspective. / Surveys were conducted with the lecturers at the beginning and toward the end of the study, while the student teachers in these lecturers' classes were surveyed over a three year period. The interviews were semi-structured following an interpretative (evolving) research approach, with the "results" of ongoing data analysis being fed into later interviews. The interview data were analysed for personal perceptions and understandings rather than for generalisation and prediction with the intention of focusing on the identification of emergent themes. Interviews were conducted with lecturers at the beginning of the study and again toward its conclusion while student teachers were interviewed at the end of the study. The lecturers claimed constructivism as their underlying philosophical belief system and the initial surveys established baseline data on the actual nature of the lecturers' beliefs and how these were perceived by the student teachers. Similarly, the initial interviews explored the espoused beliefs and congruent practices of lecturers and student teachers. These two sets of data were compared to establish their congruence or otherwise. Further interviews with the lecturers focused on the survey data and my reconstruction of what the lecturers had said previously when interviewed. Later survey and interview data were also examined against the baseline data for evidence of change over the four years of the study. The data demonstrated that the student teachers perceived the existence of moderate to strong socio-cultural constructivist-aligned classroom environments when considered at a class (group) level, and a moderate alignment with critical perspectives at the individual (personal) level. / There was a high degree of consistency between staff and student teacher views, and the student teachers' views were consistent across the year groups (first, second and third years) and throughout the four years of the study. Lecturer practice(s) congruent with constructivism were the basis for student teacher change toward understanding and their adoption of constructivist ideas and aligned practices. Specific lecturer practices were identified as particularly effective in achieving such change. These effective lecturer practices may assist in establishing the foundations of a constructivist-aligned pedagogy for teacher education. The lecturers' modeling of the practices they were promoting for student teachers' practice was identified as a key element in promoting change. Indeed, the tension between traditional and transfornative approaches was exacerbated in situations where lecturers' promotion of a preferred practice was different from that which they enacted. The continuing existence of such situations and associated tensions has the potential to limit the extent of any change.

This study focused on the teacher interpersonal behaviour in the teaching of Mathematics, compared to English. It investigated: differences between student perceptions of their Mathematics and English teachers' interaction styles using the actual and ideal QTI; investigate associations between students' attitudes to Mathematics and English and their perceptions of the teachers' interpersonal behaviour; investigate whether any factors exist that contribute to students' perceptions of teachers' interpersonal behaviour, determine what the typical Mathematics and English teacher in Singapore is like; and what makes an effective teacher from students' and teachers' viewpoints. The QTI, together with the Attitude to Mathematics and Attitude to English, was administered to 913 students and 37 mathematics and English teachers from an independent school in Singapore. Student and teacher interviews were conducted to further substantiate the quantitative results. Both QTI and attitudinal scales were found to be valid and reliable instruments with alpha coefficients ranging from 0.69 to 0.92. In terms of leadership, helping/friendly, understanding and student responsibility, teacher behaviour as perceived by students, fell short of the ideal. Positive associations were found between students' attitudes to Mathematics and English and their perceptions of the teachers' interpersonal behaviour. Teacher experience and students' grade level were factors that contributed to students' perceptions of teachers' interpersonal behaviour. The typical Singaporean Mathematics teacher is that of the directive and authoritative type and the English teacher is the tolerant-authoritative type. Finally, an effective teacher is one who, besides having the positive qualities of good leadership, helping/friendly, understanding, has a good sense of humour and a passion to make a difference.