Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to report the research framework and methodology of a collaborative research on science classroom environments in Taiwan and Australia. The objective of this collaborative research was to investigate factors preventing science teachers from creating positive classroom environments in Taiwan and Australia. Nine Taiwanese and 6 Australian researchers were involved in this cross-national study. Five sub-groups consisting of researchers from both countries investigated different aspects of classroom environment, including teachers’ beliefs, students’ perceptions on their classroom climate, and teacher’s behavior and knowledge. Four core questionnaires, “What Is Happening In This Class?” (WIHIC), “Teacher-Student Interaction” (TSI), “Students’ Perceptions of Teachers’ Knowledge” (SPOTK), and “Beliefs about Science and School Science Questionnaires” (BASSSQ) were developed and validated by each of the sub-groups. A “back-translation” technique was applied to ensure validity in translation between languages. The questionnaire was administered to 1,879 students from 50 classes in Taiwan and 1,081 students from 50 classes in Australia. The quantitative data from the questionnaires were used to guide the collection of qualitative data, using classroom observations, interviews with teachers and students, and narrative stories or anecdotes written by the researchers. The qualitative data enabled researchers to interpret the questionnaires more meaningfully and provide richer insight into the results from each country. Results indicated that social expectation about teachers’ role was the main factor preventing science teachers from creating positive classroom environment in Taiwan. Three major consequences of environments were identified. Implications and suggestions based on results of each of 5 sub-groups are introduced for the community of science educators in Taiwan.
| Keywords: | classroom environment; cross-national collaborative study; students’ perception; teachers’ beliefs |
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