Kindergarten students' and their parents' perceptions of science environments: achievement and attitudes

This paper reports a study involving the construction and validation of a learning environment questionnaire that was used by both kindergarten students and their parents. Although the questionnaires were validated for use with fiveand six-year old kindergarten students, the same format was used for both parents and students. Prior learning environment studies (Fraser, 1998a) had not necessarily been designed or used by parents (with a notable exception being the recent study by Allen and Fraser, 2002) or by such young students. This study is significant because it involved very young students (kindergarten), the assessment of parents' and students' preferred and actual learning environments, and investigation of differences between students' and parents' environment perceptions. First, an existing valid questionnaire (Fraser, McRobbie and Fisher, 1996) was modified in English and Spanish for very young children (fiveand six-years old) and for their parents to assess kindergarten students' and their parents' actual and preferred learning environment. The 'new' questionnaire was checked for validity and reliability. Secondly, differences between kindergarten students and their parents in actual and preferred learning environments in a science classroom were explored. Finally, associations between kindergarten students' achievement and attitudes and students' and parent' perceptions of the learning environment in a science classroom were investigated. (Contains 26 references.) (Author) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document [Kindergarten Students' and Their Parents' Perceptions of Science Environments: Achievement and Attitudes] [Esther Robinson Barry 3. Fraser] U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY ET? ol-tisArt, TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 EST COPY AVATIA Jt IUE Kindergarten Students 1 KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS' AND THEIR PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENTS: ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTITUDES Esther Robinson and Barry J. Fraser Curtin University of Technology, Australia This paper reports a study involving the construction and validation of a learning environment questionnaire that was used by both kindergarten students and their parents. Although the questionnaires were validated for use with fiveand six-year old kindergarten students, the same format was used for both parents and students. Prior learning environment studies (Fraser, 1998a) had not necessarily been designed or used by parents (with a notable exception being the recent study by Allen & Fraser, 2002) or by such young students. This study is significant because it involved very young students (kindergarten), the assessment of parents' and students' preferred and actual learning environments, and investigation of differences between students' and parents' environment perceptions. First, an existing valid questionnaire (Fraser, McRobbie & Fisher, 1996) was modified in English and Spanish for very young children (fiveand six-years old) and for their parents to assess kindergarten students' and their parents' actual and preferred learning environment. The 'new' questionnaire was checked for validity and reliability. Secondly, differences between kindergarten students and their parents in actual and preferred learning environments in a science classroom were explored. Finally, associations between kindergarten students' achievement and attitudes and students' and parents' perceptions of the learning environment in a science classroom were investigated. BACKGROUND The extent to which teaching and learning are productive depends partly on the participants' environment, which is a set of dispositions that incline individuals to act and interact in particular ways (Bourdieu 1992; Lemke, 1985). The study of learning environments built on Lewin's (1936) theory dealing with the relationship and interaction between the individual and his/her environment Lewin (1936) and Murray (1938) were most likely the first individuals to recognize relationships between the environment and human behavior, thus laying the foundation for the development of the first learning environment scales. In the past three decades, much attention has been given to the development and use of instruments to assess the qualities of the classroom learning environment from the perspective of the student (Fraser, 1994, 1998a, 1998b, 2002; Fraser & Walberg, 1991). The relationship between learning environment variables and student outcomes has provided a specific focus for the application of learning environment instruments. Fraser, Fisher, and McRobbie (1996) felt that there was a need for a single instrument that would combine some of the best features from previously-developed instruments to better understand ("9 the socio-psychological climate of classrooms. Therefore they developed the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire, which formed the starting point for this study. 0 0 14. ) 1 Kindergarten Students 2 This study adds to the field of learning environments because it modified and validated questionnaires to assess kindergarten students' and their parents' perceptions of the actual and preferred learning environment, investigated differences between parents' and students' perceptions of the actual and preferred learning environments, and explored associations between the environment and students' achievement and attitudes in science classrooms. School, work, and family settings can be described in terms of a set of conceptually-related dimensions that appear to have common influences (Fraser & Walberg, 1991). When schools are more involved with their communities and when teachers and parents see and talk more often with one another, they are more likely to know about one another's needs and are better able to work in tandem to promote the learning and welfare of students. This implies that the development and achievement outcomes of education can often be improved if schools become more involved in the lives of their local communities (Berliner & Biddle, 1995). Parent programs have been found to have significant and positive effects on children's verbal ability, language, school-related knowledge and skills, and achievement in school subjects, especially when integrated into a network of community support (Kellaghan, Sloane, Alvarez, & Bloom, 1993). Other research has revealed that toddlers' vocabulary development is related to the amount of parental speech (Huttenlocher, Haight, Bryk, Seltzer, & Lyons, 1991) and parental efforts to describe environmental stimuli that capture a toddler's attention. AIMS 1. To develop valid and reliable questionnaires in English and Spanish to assess: a. kindergarten students' actual and preferred learning environment. b. their parents' actual and preferred learning environment. 2. To investigate differences between kindergarten students and their parents in their perceptions of a. actual learning environment in a science classroom. b. preferred learning environment in a science classroom. 3. To investigate associations between kindergarten students' achievement and attitudes and: a. students' perceptions of the learning environment in a science classroom. b. their parents' perceptions of the learning environment in a science classroom. METHODS Learning Environment Questionnaire Fraser, Fisher, and McRobbie (1996) developed a learning instrument called the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire. Past studies have revealed that the WIHIC is a Kindergarten Students 3 valid reliable instrument for measuring actual and preferred learning environments in studies in Australia and Taiwan (Aldridge & Fraser, 2000), the USA (Allen & Fraser, 2002), Canada (Raaflaub & Fraser, 2003), Singapore (Fraser & Chionh, 2000) and Indonesia (Magianti, Fraser, & Aldridge, 2001). The original version of the WIHIC was modified and translated into Spanish using the procedures of translation and back translation recommended by Brislin (1970) and described by Aldridge and Fraser (2000) in their cross-national study of classroom environments in Taiwan and Australia. The WIHIC was deemed to be a highly suitable instrument for assessing the learning environment at the kindergarten level, and for evaluating both students' and parents' perceptions of the learning environment. The WIHIC was modified from 56 items in seven scales to 20 items in five scales, in order to facilitate understanding and to reduce administration time among five-and six-years old students who participated in the study, along with members of a self-contained English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) class and parents. The modified version of the WIHIC questionnaire used by kindergarten students and their parents had four forms. Two forms were used to measure the students' and parents' perception of actual classroom environment, while the other two were used to measure students' and parents' preferred classroom environment. Table 1 provides descriptive information about the version of the VVIIIIC used in our study. Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods Tobin and Fraser (1998) advocate that research on learning environments can be enhanced by using multiple theoretical frames to illuminate the experiences of key participants in the learning of science and by using a variety of research methods that can lead to a rich yield of qualitative and quantitative data. They went on to add that the benefit of using multiple approaches is that complementary insights can lead to the identif