Session 5 -Improving the Learning Environment

Recap of Session 4

Presentation by the Groups -Case study of 3 different schools

Learning Environment of 3 different schools

School A - as a teacher not pleasant environment to work in.

- as a parent it is good choice to out the child in

School B - For teachers who are willing to work harder

- As parents it is a good school school to put the child in

School C - "Happy" school -good learning environment for both students and as well as teacher

• I learned not only about the schools' learning environment but also about some recommendations which can be consider in order to improve the LE.
  

From todays session (5) I learned about...

1. the WIHIC Questionnnaire
2. using the microsoft excel to key in the data collected from the questionnaire
3. keying in the same data into the SPSS sheet for analyzing
4. analyzing the data using the software called SPSS
5. found the correlation means of the items in the questionnaire
6. the procedures which helps to derive at the findings
7. Cronbach Alpha reliablity - www.ats.ucla.edu/STAT/SPSS/faq/alpha.html
8. how to go about deciding how the items are significantly different in order to take the next step ie. whether we need to intervene to better modify the items in the questionniare
9. writing a report after the data analyzing
10. the different headings in the report
    
11. designing and filling up the tables for the reports with the nececssary datas derived from using the SPSS
12. drawing graph using excel to summarize the findings
    
13. writing a report for the survey which was done in my class
14. facilities - the physical learning environment in the NIE thru the learning journey in the campus
15. NIE 's resources for the students
    

Reflection_Session 4

I have learned ...

1.that Quantitative and Qualitative studies has been conducted in S'pore schools

2.School Level Envirionment Questionaire

- all the questions in the Questionaire testing one dimension - to avoid fatigue

-5 point likert scale should be avoided - to avoid pple from giving nuetral answers

-try to put the SA guestions in the top of the questinaire

-when crafting the questinaire, we should take certain things into consideration

eg. students language proficiency, their concentration span

3.the 9 dimensions can be classified into Moos Schema

- Relationship, Personal Developement and System Change & Maintenance

4.Case study of a school - identifying the positive and negative findings of LE

- recommendations

5.How to design powerpoint slides in Google in order to share with the classmates.

Session 4 - School Learning Environment

Definition of School LE

1. Student - Teacher Interaction

2. School culture

3. Teaching Methodalogy

4. Learning Style of Students

5. Physical aspect

6. Money

7. School Leader's Vision

8. Discipline

9. Students' Attitude

10. Parents' support or Lack of it

11. Shared Vision among of School Leaders

12. Support Staff

13. Security

14. Emotional Well being of the students and staff

15. student-student relationship

• Above mentioned can be categorised in the following manner

a) Students - Student - Teacher Interaction, Students' Attitude, student-student

relationship, Learning Style of Students

b) Teacher -

c) School

d) Partnership

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Take Aways for Session 3

From Session 3,

I've learned about......

1. What makes a Learning environment - students' needs, students' perception of environment,
school culture, school climate,human behaviour etc.
2. Key points to consider when talking about LE
2. Factors to consider when assessing the LE
3. Some of the psychologists who are related to the topic of Learning Environment

eg. Fraser, Murray,Lewin, Moos, Leary and Walberg and so on

4. The psychologists' work or contributions pertaining to LE.
5. Different learning environmentor rather different Learning Style(thru videos)
- Teacher Centered(didactic), Student Centered, Case Study and Socratic style.
6. Using the Website called Copernic to get info on the psychologists.
7. 2 different methods to assess the LE- Alpha press(external sources) and Beta press(internal
sources eg.students in the school)

Videos on LE

1. Teacher Centered - didactic style

• no students' participation

• chalk and talk method

2. Student Centered

• dramatise the situation

• learning thru students' participation. eg.acting out

Our Guy!

Herbert J. Walberg
Expertise: Psychology, education policy, education productivity

• a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution


• a member of the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education


• a University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago.


• his research focuses on educational productivity and human accomplishments


• Walberg has written or edited more than 60 books


• also written approximately 350 articles - on such topics as the causes and effects of learning, teaching and instructional effectiveness, national comparisons of achievement, and educational measurement and evaluation.


• has held research posts at the Educational Testing Service and the University of Wisconsin


• has taught at Harvard University.


• was an adviser to former U.S. secretary of education William Bennett


• has been frequently called to testify before U.S. congressional committees and federal courts on educational matters.

Information extracted from: http://www.hoover.org/bios/walberg.html