Classroom Environments and Student Views of Social Studies: The Middle Grades

Secondary Social Education in the Peoples Republic of China: A Quantitative Study of Classroom Environments in the Guangdong Province

“…The results of the forced-choice questionnaire indicated that history and science are not as highly regarded as are other subjects. This finding is very similar to the results in the United States using this same form of questionnaire (Fouts, 1987;1989). While Chinese students do not regard history as highly as they do their other subjects, previous research in China indicated that students have a dislike for the subject of politics as well (Rosen, 1985).…”

“…Table 2 aIso presents these scores for the sample of 47 junior and senior high classrooms from urban and suburban schools in the United States. These data from the United States schools were obtained from the original Fouts, Chan, b Biao studies (Fouts, 1987;1989) which we are replicating. These samples of American and Chinese schools are roughIy comparable, in that they are drawn fmm a mapr urban area and the surrounding environs, and are believed to be "typical" of the secondary schools that educate the large majority of youth.…”

“…Our intent was to replicate the research (Fouts, 1987(Fouts, , 1989Fouts & Myers, 1992;Myers & Fouts, 1992) done in the United States using identical instrumentation, data collection procedures, and statistical design.…”

And Santayana lives on: Students' views on the purposes for studying American history

“…Do they convey others? Some investigators who have surveyed students have concluded that students typically view history courses in particular and social studies courses in general with little interest and relegate them to the lower end of a scale showing their view of the importance of school subjects (Haladyna et al 1982, Fouts 1989). This trend is disturbing.…”

Reasoning patterns inhibiting school effectiveness: The case of the fallacy of bifurcation

“…Additional support of the advantage of simultaneous preoccupation with both academic and social aspects, rather than emphasizing one of them alone, has emerged in numerous studies of the learning environment (e.g., Brookover, Sehweitzer, Schneider, Beady, Flood, and Wisenbaker, 1978;Fouts, 1989;Fraser & Fisher, 1982;Lawrentz, 1976;Lin & Crawly, 1987;Tisher & Power, 1978;Moos & Moos, 1978;Walberg, 1972) which have consistently found a positive relationship between the learning environment (the sociopsychological characteristics of the classroom and of the school) and various schooling outcomes, such as academic achievement, students' efficacy of schooling, students' attitudes toward school, students' self-image, and students' citizenship attitudes. A recent study of Israeli desegregated junior high schools (Aviram & Kuperrnintz, in preparation) also supports the above findings.…”