This study focuses on the computer laboratory class as a learning environment in university courses. It involved the development and validation of two instruments, the Computer Laboratory Environment Inventory (CLEI) and the Attitude towards Computing and Computing Courses Questionnaire (ACCC). The CLEI has five scales for measuring students' perceptions of aspects of their laboratory environment. These are Student Cohesiveness, Open-Endedness, Integration, Technology Adequacy and Laboratory Availability. The ACCC has four scales, Anxiety, Enjoyment, Usefulness of Computers and Usefulness of the Course. The instruments were administered at three universities, one in Australia, one in England and one in the United States. The classes surveyed included those in which the development of software was the focus of study, such as Information Systems and Computer Science, and others in which the computer was used as a tool. With the exception of Laboratory Availability, all the environment variables were found to correlate significantly with all attitudinal variables. The only environment variable with significant association with achievement was Student Cohesiveness. However, the results showed that there were significant associations between the attitudinal variables, Anxiety, Enjoyment and Usefulness of the Course and achievement. Regression analysis supported the findings that the environment variables made a significant contribution to the attitudinal variables, and these in turn made a significant contribution to achievement. Further analysis using structural equation modelling suggests that computer laboratory environment affects achievement indirectly by directly affecting students' attitudes towards computers but even more so their attitude towards the course.The significance of this study is, that it is one of the first that has investigated the effectiveness of ++ / computer laboratory classes in a university setting in which the computer is central to the discipline being studied. The results demonstrate the importance of the laboratory environment in those courses in which the computer plays a major role. The CLEI will prove useful in the design and implementation of the laboratory component of a course and in the formative evaluation of such a course.

This study investigates and describes the development of an instrument named the Electronics Laboratory Environment Inventory (ELEI), which is used to measure students' perceptions of the electronics laboratory class as a learning environment. The sample consisted of 353 of 708 Computer Engineering active students from eight classes in Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia. Bina Nusantara University which has the largest number of computer engineering students in Indonesia. Students' learning outcomes were measured using z-scores in electronics subjects and students' attitudes in laboratory classes were measured by using the Attitude Towards Electronics Questionnaire (ATEQ). Directed by the research questions, numerous statistical analyses were performed. These included item analysis, inter-item correlation analysis, one-way analysis of variance for establishing reliability and validity of the laboratory class environment instruments in the present study; descriptive statistics for investigating the nature of the learning environment in electronics subjects; simple and multiple correlation analyses for investigating associations between laboratory class environment and students' outcomes. In all cases, electronics laboratory classes have played a major role. The scales measured Student Cohesiveness, Open-endedness, Integration, Technology Adequacy, and Laboratory Availability. The results showed that all five scales have a reasonable alpha reliability with low mean correlations. / The study discovered that, generally, students perceived their electronics class learning environments as favourable. It was found that students' perceptions of electronics laboratory class environment were associated with students' learning outcomes. The results of this study make important and unique contributions to students' learning outcomes, suggesting that the instruments are useful for assessing laboratory class environment in the other studies.

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.

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The major purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a science course for prospective elementary teachers on their perceptions of the learning environment, attitudes towards science, and understandings of the nature of science. The sample consisted of 525 female students enrolled in 27 classes of A Process Approach to Science (SCED 401) at a large urban university in Southern California. Also comparisons were made between SCED 401 and the students' previous laboratory course with regard to the learning environment and attitudes. Perceptions of the learning environment were measured using scales from the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (Open-Endedness and Material Environment) and the What Is Happening In this Class? (Student Cohesiveness, Instructor Support, Cooperation, Investigation). Attitudes towards science were assessed using the Enjoyment of Science Lessons scale from the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA). Students completed the Nature of Scientific Knowledge Survey (NSKS) based on their entire science education experience-not just the one laboratory class which they had taken previously. Comparisons were then made with their understandings after having completed SCED 401. Finally, associations between the learning environment and the student outcomes of attitudes and understandings of the nature of science were explored. This study embraced the current trend in classroom learning environments research of combining quantitative and qualitative methods. Qualitative components included items from the open-ended questionnaire, Views of Nature of Science, interviews with students, and an analysis of concept maps. The qualitative findings expanded and complemented the quantitative results and, in several cases, supported the construct validity of scales assessing the learning environment and attitudes. / Another purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using real research data for growth rates of four species of Antarctic seabirds (i.e., implementing an 'intervention') in six classes of SCED 401. The objective of the intervention was to increase the authenticity and quality of an experimental design project. In addition, the wildlife biologist who collected the data guided the students during the project. Although the intervention did not lead to an appreciable improvement in students' perceptions of the learning environment, differences between intervention and nonintervention classes were statistically significant for Enjoyment of Science Lessons from the TOSRA and for Creative from the NSKS (effect sues were 2.64 and 2.06 standard deviations, respectively). Results of this study indicated that during a factor analysis, the large majority of learning environment items belonged to their a priori scale (43 out of 46 items had factor loadings above 0.40) A valid instrument for use with prospective elementary teachers was produced by combining relevant scales from the Science . Laboratory Environment Inventory and the What Is Happening In this Class? A weaker factor structure was found for the Nature of Scientific Knowledge Survey. However, by moving close to half of the -faulty' items from the NSKS, the internal consistency reliability of scales improved considerably. This study also found large and statistically significant differences between students' previous laboratory class and SCED 401 for all six leaning environment scales. The largest difference was found for the level of Open-Endedness (effect size was 6.74 standard deviations). / A statistically significant difference also was found for Enjoyment of Science Lessons (effect size was 2.98 standard deviations). Differences were not as dramatic with regard to understandings of the nature of science, although differences for two scales (Creative and Unified) from the NSKS were positive and statistically significant. This study replicated past research by finding statistically significant positive correlations between all six learning environment scales and Enjoyment of Science Lessons. However, by far, Instructor Support had the largest independent association with enjoyment, using both the individual and class mean as the units of analysis. A positive link between a favorable leaning environment and the student outcome of understanding nature of science also was found. This research makes a distinctive contribution to the learning environments field because it is the first study to investigate laboratory classroom environments at the university level with prospective elementary teachers. The study is also the first to build a bridge between the classroom learning environment and the student outcome of understanding the nature of science. The study has implications for undergraduate laboratory course instructors, for science teacher educators who develop and instruct in elementary teacher preparation programs, and for future elementary teachers and the science learning of their future students.

The purposes of this study were to analyse the learning environment, teacher-student interactions and educational outcomes in physical chemistry laboratory classrooms inThailand. In addition, the validation of the Chemistry Laboratory EnvironmentInventory (CLEI), the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) and Attitude Scale was examined. The sample was composed of 100 physical chemistry students in four Rajabhat Universities who responded to both Actual and Preferred Forms of the CLEI and QTI. Also, interviews and written stories were used with twelve students.Students' learning outcomes were investigated using a cognitive test, a practical test and the Attitude Scale. Before the questionnaires were used with the 100 students sample, the reliability and validity of the CLEI, QTI and Attitude Scale were confirmed with 198 tertiary science students in seven Rajabhat Universities. In addition, the results of students' interviews and written stories supported the validityof both the CLEI and QTI, and students improved their achievement outcomes. Thestudy found that there were differences between the students' preferred learningenvironments and what they perceived to be actually present. Associations were also found between students' perceptions of the classroom environment and student outcomes.

Usability studies are conducted as a part of the usability engineering process, ensuring the usability of a developing product. Such usability studies can be conducted in a usability laboratory, or at the anticipated context of use. At the School of Computing & Informatics Technology (CIT) at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, plans for usability facilities are being evolved.This study maps what facilities are beneficial for CIT at Makerere University to adapt in order to fulfil the potential stakeholders’ needs, as well as enabling the stakeholders to conduct wanted usability studies. Furthermore, the study presents various usability engineering methods, to be compared with the needs of the stakeholders.26 potential stakeholders of the usability facilities answered two different surveys. The result shows that the stakeholders’ conceptions about usability studies in some cases are misconceptions, why educational activities about usability and usability studies should be planned alongside the development of the facilities. Further the study shows that the facilities must support usability studies conducted in field as well as studies conducted in a controlled laboratory environment. Moreover, the facilities need to provide facilities for testing mobile services, web applications, user interfaces, and provide for stress and load testing.