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Summary. An important variable in the effectiveness of learning is the preference of the student for a mode of learning, i.e., co‐operative, competitive, or individualised. A Learning Preference Scale is therefore an asset, both to teachers as they try to suit the mode of classroom activity to student preferences, and to researchers as they investigate the dynamics of learning, especially aptitude‐treatment interaction. The Learning Preference Scale—Students (LPSS) was developed with a sample of 1,643 Sydney school‐children. Internal consistency, test‐retest stability, sub‐scale inter‐correlations, and factor analysis show that the LPSS has considerable promise as a valid and reliable instrument. Results show clear and significant differences between the preferences of boys and girls over the range of grades from Year 4 to Year 11.

Learning preferences and perceptions of classroom learning atmosphere were compared for a sample of 279 Sydney secondary school students in Grades 7 and 11. Students completed both the Learning Preference Scale-Students and the Classroom Learning Atmosphere Scale-Secondary twice, once for their English classes and once for their mathematics classes. Grade 11 students prefer both more cooperative and more competitive contact than do Grade 7 students. English generally is seen as more appropriate for cooperative contact than is mathematics, though girls prefer competing in English more than boys do, and boys prefer competing in mathematics more than girls do. Personal cooperative learning preferences are clearly related to perceptions of actual classroom emphasis on interpersonal relationships and personal development in three of the four Year X Subject groups. Grade 11 mathematics differs in that both students with high cooperative learning preference and students with low cooperative learning preference perceive classroom atmosphere similarly. Discussion concentrates on the study of mathematics by girls and the efficacy of cooperative learning.

SUMMARY.The purpose of this paper is to summarise a five-year longitudinal study of the effects of the transition from single-sex high schools to co-educational high schools. During this period two single-sex high schools serving the same geographical area formed two co-educational high schools. The results of the present investigation are presented in three parts: (1) the impact of the transition from the perspective of teachers and staff who taught at the schools before, during, and after the transition; (2) the performance of Year 10 students on externally moderated examinations in English and mathematics before, during, and after the transition, and (3) student responses to a multidimensional selfconcept instrument before, during, and after the transition. In each part the differential effects of the transition on boys and on girls are examined. The findings suggest that the transition benefited both boys and girls in terms of multiple dimensions of self-concept and that these benefits were not at the expense of academic achievement for either boys or girls.