Classroom environment in the implementation of an innovative curriculum project in science education

Abstract

A curriculum project can be positively or negatively influenced by the environment of the classroom in which it is implemented. Analysis of the perceptions of students, teachers, and external observers has allowed us to study the influence of classroom environment in the implementation of an innovative project in science education. The main conclusions indicate that even though the global evaluation is positive, more so among teachers than among students, there are differences between the perceptions of the participants, probably due to differences in interests and needs. Moreover, in the classroom environment, the teacher and the actual dynamic and spatial organization are of great importance, and it can be difficult to maintain interest or to achieve a satisfactory evaluation on the part of those students whose academic performance is lowest. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 655–671, 1998.

Learning Biology Through Innovative Curricula: A Comparison of Game- and Nongame-Based Approaches

“…However, the game‐based curriculum model leaves out at least one significant element that shapes classroom implementation: teachers. The ways in which teachers interpret curricular materials, provide opportunities for students to engage with the game and other learning materials, structure classroom time, make use of assessment data, and so on necessarily influence the extent to which the intervention successfully promotes student learning (Fogleman, McNeill, & Krajcik, ; Suárez, Pias, Membiela, & Dapía, ; Vos, Taconis, Jochems, & Pilot, ). A number of factors will likely affect teachers’ implementation decisions and practices including the norms and expectations of their schools and districts, their own experiences with the content of the intervention, their experiences with the intervention curriculum and pedagogy, and resources such as technology for supporting the intervention implementation.…”

The Development of an Instrument for a Technology-integrated Science Learning Environment

“…Applications of learning environment instruments for science classrooms have focused primarily in four areas: (1) associations between students' cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes and the learning environ-ment (Anderson, Hamilton & Hattie, 2004;Dorman, 2001;Roth, 1998); (2) influences of curriculum innovation and teacher's belief and knowledge of the learning environment (Chen, Taylor & Aldridge, 1998;Suárez, Pias, Membiela & Dapia, 1997;Wang, Tuan & Chang, 1998); (3) evaluation of students' actual and preferred environments compared to teachers' (Chang, Hisao & Barufaldi, 2006;Maor & Fraser, 1996); and (4) cross-national comparisons of learning environments (Aldridge, Fraser, Taylor & Che, 2000;Dorman & Adams, 2004;Fisher, Goh, Wong & Richards, 1997). Prior findings indicate that the learning environment in the science classroom has evolved dynamically from characteristics related to students and teachers, curriculum reform, technological and pedagogical changes, school climate, and socio-cultural factors.…”