The purpose of this study was to research what needs students feel that they have, linked to the physical learning environment in the classroom, and how this affects their conditions for learning. These needs can then hopefully give an indication of how the physical learning environment can be designed and adapted to increase its accessibility and thus reduce the need for exclusionary measures. The theories of the study concern thoughts about inclusion and theories about how the physical learning environment can be changed based on students' needs. The theoretical framework is based on a socio-cultural perspective, the ecological system theory and from the special educational perspective. Both a quantitative and a qualitative approach have been used in the form of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with students in one high school. The interview questions were worked out on the basis of the results of the survey. A comparison of the results from the respective survey method has been made and analyzed on the basis of the theoretical framework. The pupils experienced a need to reduce both auditory and visual distractions. A high proportion of students felt that the order and study area in the classrooms were not so good. The furniture's adaptation to the students physical conditions deteriorated with the students’ ages. Posters and other information on the walls seemed distracting to some students, while the majority were not disturbed by it or even gave a positive effect. The availability of tactile aids facilitated the conditions for concentrating for certain students. The development of the school's learning environments can, on the basis of the study, be beneficial to all school students and not isolated to students in difficulty to increase the scope of inclusion with all its advantages. Hopefully, the study can provide indications of what needs in the physical learning environment that can be found in students.

The learning environment has been the focus of considerable educational research over a long period of time. The study reported in this thesis utilises the perceptions of 208 junior science students from a North Queensland state secondary school to inform classroom environment improvement plans developed and implemented by their teachers' in an attempt to improve the cognitive and attitudinal outcomes of the students. The five stage process on which the study is based combines theory and practice in providing the participating teachers with a structured means of bringing about change in their classrooms. Students' perceptions of actual and preferred teacher interpersonal behaviour and the laboratory learning environment are measured using the QTI and SLEI respectively. Particular aspects of teacher interpersonal behaviour and the laboratory learning environment are targeted for change through the classroom environment improvement plans. The study identified which aspects of the learning environment had changed after a period of intervention. It also identified associations between students' perceptions of aspects of their laboratory learning environment and attitudinal outcomes as well as associations between teacher interpersonal behaviours and attitudinal outcomes. While no direct associations were found between aspects of the laboratory learning environment or teacher interpersonal behaviours and cognitive outcomes, students' cognitive outcomes did improve over the duration of the study thus supporting a previously established link between student attitudes and cognitive outcomes.

Science teaching at the secondary level can be made more effective with the judicious utilization of a multi-media approach involving modem information and communication technologies that is entering the Indian educational system in general and the schools in Jammu region (J&K State), in particular, surely but slowly. A major impact of technology today in the field of education is that at all levels classrooms are becoming technology-rich learning environments and as such there is a need to conduct research to study the learning environments of technology-supported classrooms. The study described in this thesis utilized the Technology-Rich, Outcomes-Focused Learning Environment Inventory (TROFLEI), to study the perceptions of students' actual and preferred classroom learning environment in a technology-supported science classroom at the secondary level in an Indian school situation. An important aspect of this research was to determine the reliability and validity of this scale for use in Indian classroom settings. An attitude scale derived from the Test for Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) for studying the attitude of students towards science was also employed and lastly the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) was used to analyze the teacher student interactions in a technology-supported science classroom environment. Data for research were collected from 700 secondary students in a co-educational Indian school in the city of Jammu. / The study reported that the TROFLEI and the QTI were reliable and valid instruments for assessing the psychosocial learning environments III a technology-supported classroom and the teacher-student interactions III such environments. Significant associations are also reported between the students' perceptions of their technology-supported learning environment and their perceptions of the teacher-student interactions with three learner outcomes; attitude towards science, academic efficacy and academic achievement. Significant gender differences in technology-supported learning environments have also been reported in this study. This research study happens to be the first of its kind in this region and should provide a thrust towards the use of technology-supported classrooms for effectively teaching other school subjects.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Technology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The purpose of this research was to investigate how Technology teachers in Grade 9 create an effective learning environment for teaching the topic of ‘Structures'. Technology is a new subject in the South African curriculum, therefore, the creation of a learning environment conducive to learning about Structures as one of the themes in Technology is crucial. In the South African curriculum for Technology, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), learners have to be taught about the following design process: Investigating, Designing, Making, Evaluating and Communication. Besides, learners need to know strengthening and the functions of Structures. The design process will ultimately lead learners into modern structural engineering where the aim is to create structures that are up to standard and operational, as they are in the real world. The design process for structures needs to take into consideration three main aspects: mechanical concepts, aesthetic concepts, and sustainable development, which are independent while interrelated at the same time. Modern structural engineering needs to coordinate humanity and natural development. Structures, in broad terms, relate to buildings, dams and bridges, therefore, for structures to be designed, they need architects and structural engineers. Structures have been part of humankind for shelter, storage, communication and to solve many human problems. The creation of a learning environment for teaching structures, which is the main focus of this research, was studied in relation to a constructivist learning environment, e.g. pre-conceptions, sensorial activation and the analysis of subject matter, in accordance with the Resource Theory. The Resource Theory calls them the ingredients believed to enhance learning, where a learning environment is created by physical facilities, human resources and fiscal resources. Studying technology using Resource Theory as the theoretical framework may give insight into the successful teaching of Technology as a subject in South Africa. Besides, the Resource Theory has characteristics of constructivist models like Education Reconstruction for Teacher Education (ERTE), which was used for studying science where learners’ preconceived knowledge, sensorial activation and subject matter analysis are considered as effective for creating a conducive learning environment. The Resource Theory vi emphasizes that physical resources, human resources and fiscal resources enhance an effective learning environment. The advantage of these constructivist models is that they represent the framework for an integrative approach to research on creating a learning environment for teaching topics such as Structures. The models firstly integrate sensorial activation; secondly, the empirical study of learners’ pre-conceptions; and thirdly, an analysis of the subject matter. When creating a learning environment for structures using the analysis of subject matter, sensorial activation and learners’ pre-conceptions, the pedagogical content knowledge for Technology teachers may also be successfully explored. Currently in some schools in South Africa, the topic of ‘Structures’ as one of the Technology themes, is taught in a general classroom with no equipment, materials and teachers’ lack of knowledge of the learning environment. Besides, the literature shows that there is no ordered environment earmarked for teaching and learning Technology. Some teachers are not able to teach effectively, as a result, there is no conducive learning environment for teaching the topic of Structures. This means that the learning environment in many schools in South Africa still leaves much to be desired. The main challenge is that teachers focus more on the curriculum and textbook’s sequencing of topics in teaching in a context of classrooms where practical tasks are not emphasised. In addition, teachers do not always have a clear understanding of the structure of the curriculum or the demands of the curriculum. Teachers need to be trained on how to integrate various resources, as the literature suggests, not only to follow textbooks as a way of sequencing their teaching. Owing to the above-mentioned gaps a study was needed to investigate how Technology teachers create an effective learning environment for teaching the topic of Structures. A qualitative approach and case study design were used to find out how a learning environment for Structures is created in Bohlabela Circuit. The data were collected using unstructured questionnaires and document or observation sheet for planning documents. Two Grade 9 Technology teachers participated in the study. Since this study was about investigating the learning environment created by Technology teachers when teaching the theme Structures, the findings revealed that these teachers had a knowledge of what creating a learning environment is, but it was not vii clear if they practiced this in their classrooms. They seemed to have a knowledge of the essence of prior knowledge, resources and content knowledge of Structures. The study recommends that curriculum advisors at Circuit level need to intensify workshops and visit Technology teachers in schools to check whether they have artefacts made by learners using the Design Process. Furthermore, observation during teaching is necessary, monitoring the effectiveness of teaching and learning of making Structures. The importance of this study is that the findings may be helpful to technology curriculum designers, teachers and learners, since workshops may be conducted in a proper way. Resources need to be coupled with teachers’ content knowledge of structures and strategies for instruction. Key concepts: Creation of learning environment; Content knowledge; Constructivists learning environment; Pedagogical content knowledge; Resource Theory; Sensorial activation; Structures; Technological pedagogical and content knowledge.

No description available.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Iris M. Totten / Problem-based learning in the sciences has been demonstrated to be a successful educational approach to engage students and increase content knowledge. However, the power of collaborative learning to engage students, increase content knowledge and develop problem-solving skills in the sciences has not yet been fully researched. Collaborative learning has an enormous potential not only to foster student learning, but also to increase interest in the sciences and promote cutting-edge education strategies worldwide. Collaborative learning tactics in this study take place within the virtual learning environment entitled “GeoWorlds.” GeoWorlds is an online educational gaming program within the Second Life 3-D Teen Grid. The curriculum was developed as a collaborative, investigative and engaging program to promote learning of Earth science content. The program allows students to be submersed-in and explore different geologic time periods; enabling them to observe species and geological structures while interacting with one another to complete tasks. This study investigates the educational impact, emotional response and overall feedback of the GeoWorlds virtual learning environment on Midwest ninth graders.

Although I was trained as a nurse, I became curious about the views of psychiatric nursing staff as to what they feel would create a clinical learning environment for them. This was as a result of having my dearly beloved father admitted to a medical ward, and being on the receiving side of care. This created a fear in me that surprised me. I was scared at how my father would be treated if I was not present to witness his care. As a nurse, strangely, I felt that I could not trust the nurses to provide safe clinical care for/with my father. I began to feel concerned about the competencies of nurses as I observed the care that was being offered to him. My observation and experience was that the ward environment generated an atmosphere that needed a form of nursing care that was collaborative and transparent where the hand-over between professionals communicated the needs of the patients in their care – from making sure that patients’ bedding is comfortable, to checking whether they are trying to communicate something, to being sure that their medication has been properly given. This aroused my curiosity as to whether nursing staff themselves had views as to what is needed to have, or to create, an environment that sustained their original urge to take up nursing in the first place. I thus became curious to investigate the views and experiences of both qualified and non-qualified psychiatric nurses with the aim of improving the clinical learning environment within acute adult inpatient wards, as well as secure adult and male adolescent mental health inpatient wards, as these wards raise crucial issues to do with control, power, seclusion, rights and responsibilities, issues that are not easy for nurses to learn to deal with in their classroom training. For this study I interviewed sixteen staff members of wards within the National Health Service and the private sector. The staff varied in their experiences and qualification, from qualified mental health nurses to non-qualified nurses. My findings show that: (1) Nurses often felt the ward organisation had hindered their learning through the way in which it worked to organise them. (2) Nurses would have liked to experience a different kind of learning. However they were not sure in what way or how they would like the learning experience to be. (3) The expert nurses were able to work in a competent manner despite the sense of the organisation organising their practices, as they were able to sense which of the limited number of organisational possibilities were open to them so that their choices allowed for their practices to be learning experiences as well as providing sound clinical care. (4) Learning dialogues happen in contexts where nurses feel supported and where the episode of care in which they are engaged is also supported by a team approach and resourceful pulling together of skills and abilities. (5) There was a lack of space(s) for the nurses to use for reflection. (6) Nurses also expressed the need for supervision after an episode or critical event had taken place. (7) Throughout all the areas I inquired into, what was strongly echoed was that the psychiatric nurses all felt that they needed a voice within the organisation and its hierarchy of team structures within these wards. There was a felt sense that the nurses wanted and at times needed more expert nurses working in the teams. Overall, I was struck by the abilities which were brought to the forefront as the nurses shared their views and experiences of how they felt organised by the organisation. They were able to explore the factors that they felt would improve the quality of care that nurses provide and were able to share what they believe will help them in co-creating standards for how the clinical environment could become a learning environment for the nurses.

I undersökningar som Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) och Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) visar Sverige nedslående resultat när det gäller elevers läsförståelse. Samtidigt visar skolans styrdokument att lärare i alla ämnen är ansvariga att arbeta språkutvecklande. Mitt syfte med studien är att undersöka hur några lärare i naturorienterade ämnen arbetar med läsförståelse och begrepp i undervisningen, samt hur de stödjer elever med bristande läsförståelse i klassrummet. Med denna kvalitativa studie hoppas jag få en tydligare bild över hur elevers läsförståelse kan utvecklas i ämnesundervisningen och hur skolan kan skapa en språk- och kunskapsutvecklande lärmiljö för alla elever. För att få svar i min studie har jag valt att genomföra observationer och halvstrukturerade intervjuer med tre lärare.  Materialet analyseras därefter ur ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Studiens huvudresultat visar att lärare i den här studien inte arbetar med läsförståelse i klassrummet, men att begrepp lyfts i undervisningen kontinuerligt. Den form av stöd som gavs till elever med lässvårigheter utgjordes främst av olika kompensatoriska hjälpmedel. Undervisningen utgjordes till stor del av en traditionell undervisning med både praktiska och teoretiska inslag. Detta resultat synliggörs även i liknade studier jag tagit del av. En slutsats är att lärare bör ges goda kunskaper i explicita läsutvecklande strategier för att stödja elevers språk- och kunskapsutveckling / International studies like Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show discouraging results in terms of students reading comprehension in Sweden. At the same time the National curriculum means that teachers of all subjects are responsible for working with language development. My purpose of this study is therefore to investigate how some teachers in Natural Sciences Education work with reading comprehension and concepts in the school, and how they support students with poor reading comprehension in the classroom. With this qualitative study, I hope to get a clearer view of how students´reading skills can be developed in different subjects and how the school can create a language and cognitive learning environment for all students. To answer my questions, I have chosen to conduct observations and semi-structured interviews with three teachers. The material is then analyzed from a socio-cultural perspective. The study's main results show that teachers in this study do not work with reading comprehension, but the concepts are brought up in the classroom continuously. Teaching consists mainly of traditional teaching with both practical and theoretical elements. One conclusion is that teachers should be proficient in explicit reading strategies to support students´ language and knowledge development.

The aim of this research is to provide insight into how middle school learners experience an inclusive multicultural learning environment. Increasing diversity is challenging European educational systems, which have the arduous task to foster inclusion of learners with diverse educational needs. In order to explore the participants’ descriptions, a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with six learners was employed. Learners’ positions in the educational scenery are central and unique; they are the main experts on their own situations and therefore precious contributors to educational research. Results have been discussed according to a sociocultural perspective. The analysis of my data suggests that the learners perceive their inclusive environment as beneficial. Moreover, they perceive their cultural diversity as strength, reckon social interaction and teamwork with peers as favorable conditions for learning, feel competent in multicultural communication and believe that respect and acceptance towards others are necessary common values. Some implications of multiculturalism in special education are discussed according to the results of a recent European study, which shows that in all the participating European countries, Sweden included, there is a consistent discrepancy in the proportions of learners with immigrant background within special education. Assessment methods developed for mono-cultural learners appear to be a valid reason why multicultural learners are over-or under-represented in special education. Research also shows that inclusion of diversity in educational environment enables the development of social skills in all learners.

A critical factor of e-learning success is the e-learning readiness of the online user. However, there is a scarcity of studies on online instructors' e-learning readiness (E-Readiness) in an online learning environment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether there were correlations among online instructor E-Readiness dimensions and factors at the design and delivery stages that affect system outcomes. In this study, the DeLone and McLean model was used as a framework for research to test E-Readiness with the System Design stage (comprising System Quality, Information Quality, and Service Quality), System Delivery stage (comprising System Use, and User Satisfaction) and Net Benefits stage (comprising Net Benefits). A total of 113 online instructors at a Caribbean university system completed a Web-based questionnaire containing previously validated and adapted items. The questions were answered using a five-point Likert scale and the survey results were analyzed using aggregates and linear regression statistical methods. The results revealed that the e-learning systems success score of the university was 4.07 out of 5 or 81.4%, while the E-Readiness score of online instructors was 4.53 out of 5, or 90.6%. Linear regression analysis showed that E-Readiness was a significant and positive predictor of the System Design, System Delivery, and System Outcome stages and their associated dimensions. The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that the constructs together accounted for 42.2% of the variance in Net Benefits. Of the six predictors in the model, User Satisfaction provided the largest unique contribution when the other predictors in the model were held constant. The other predictors in the model (System Quality, Service Quality, Information Quality, System Use and E-Readiness) were not statistically significant and provided no significant or unique contribution to Net Benefits. Further information is provided regarding factors affecting net benefits among online instructors using online learning environments. This information can be used to address online instructors' barriers to technology use.