The effects of a learning environment on students can be described as reciprocal: students affect their learning environment just as their environments impact on them (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). In addition, no two children experience their environment in exactly the same way (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). It is expected, therefore, that
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different students’ perceptions of the same learning environment may differ. As such, the present study examined whether gender differences exist within students’ perceptions of their learning environment and use of ICT and their self-reports of self- efficacy, enjoyment of class, and enjoyment of using ICT (research objective 5).
To inform this examination, this section (Section 2.5) reviews literature in relation to gender perception differences in educational settings. First, literature related to differences in learning environment perceptions according to gender is reviewed (Section 2.5.1). Second, research related to differences in perceptions of the use of ICT within the classroom according to gender is examined (Section 2.5.2). Finally, literature related to differences in students’ self-reports of affective outcomes (self- efficacy, enjoyment of class, and enjoyment of using ICT) according to gender is reviewed (Section 2.5.3).
2.5.1 Gender Differences in Students’ Perceptions of the Learning Environment
Research related to gender perception differences in terms of the learning environment indicates mixed results. Although some studies have indicated that gender differences in learning environment perceptions are negligible (see, for example, Aleamoni, 1999 and Lim, 1995), many studies have documented such gender differences and consistent trends can be identified across such studies (Sinclair & Fraser, 2002; Wong & Fraser, 1995). Much literature related to gender differences in student perceptions of learning environments around the world at different education levels has found that female students tend to perceive the learning environment more favourably than male students. At the high school level, studies have found that, in general, female students perceive more positive classroom environments than males; this trend has been observed in Australia (Aldridge & Fraser, 2008; Chipangura & Aldridge, 2017); Bhutan (Tshewang et al., 2017); Brunei Darussalam (Majeed et al., 2002); Canada (Klassen, 2010); Indonesia (Wahyudi & Treagust, 2004); the Netherlands (den Brok et al., 2006); Oman (Alkharusi, Aldhafri, Alnabhani, & Alkalbani, 2014); and Turkey (Boz et al., 2016). Fewer studies have been conducted outside of secondary school settings; however, at the tertiary level in Turkey, the results of a study by Kaya, Ozay and Sezek (2008) suggested that female students perceive the learning environment more positively than male students. Similarly, at the primary school level, a study
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conducted in Singapore by Goh and Fraser (1998) using their QTI, found that the same trend existed.
Relatively few studies have examined gender differences in learning environment perceptions at the primary school level. Whereas the study (mentioned above) by Goh and Fraser (1998) reported results of male and female students’ perceptual differences at the primary school level, these results were specifically in relation to the learning area of mathematics. Two previous studies that were found to have investigated gender perception differences more broadly within the primary school learning environment are reviewed below.
First, Sinclair and Fraser (2002) developed the Elementary and Middle School Inventory of Classroom Environments and use this instrument to examine actual– preferred differences in the gender perceptions of grade 6 to 8 students in relation to the learning environment in Texas. In general, the results of Sinclair and Fraser’s (2002) research indicated that females perceived learning environments more positively than their male counterparts. Specifically, statistically significant differences were identified between gender scores for cooperation and teacher empathy, with females having more positive perceptions of both constructs. However, males and females had equal perceptions of task orientation and involvement. Overall, Sinclair and Fraser’s study provides partial support at the primary school level for the trend identified in the previous international studies referred to above.
Second, using scales from CLES (Aldridge, Fraser, Taylor, & Chen, 2000; Taylor et al., 1997), the WIHIC (Aldridge et al., 1999), and the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA; Fraser, 1978), Peer and Fraser (2015) examined gender differences in learning environment perceptions and attitudes to science as part of a study in Singaporean primary school science classrooms. Significant gender differences were found in students’ perceptions related to involvement, teacher support, task orientation, and cooperation. However, the effect sizes for these differences were small, suggesting that the gender differences were of minor educational significance. Overall, males were found to have higher mean scores for five of the eight learning environment scales: involvement, investigation, personal relevance, uncertainty, and
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student negotiation; females perceived higher levels of teacher support, task orientation and cooperation than their male counterparts.
Past research into gender perceptual differences in relation to the learning environment is inconclusive and few studies have investigated such perceptions at a primary school level. The present study aimed to contribute to this field of research by examining whether primary school students report gender differences in relation to perceptions of the learning environment. This section (Section 2.5.1) examined literature related to differences in student gender perceptions of the learning environment. The following section (Section 2.5.2) examines literature related to differences in student gender perceptions in terms of ICT use in the classroom.
2.5.2 Gender Differences in Students’ Perceptions of the Use of ICT within the Classroom
Few past studies were able to be located that related to gender differences in students’ perceptions of the use of ICT within the classroom. Those studies that were found are reviewed in this section (Section 2.5.2).
Overall, past studies examining gender differences in students’ perceptions of the use of ICT in the learning environment have yielded mixed results. However, the majority of these studies have examined students’ perceptions according to gender in terms of using ICT in online learning environments. For example, the studies by Lu and Chiou (2010) and Ong and Lai (2006) have suggested that male students have more positive perceptions of using ICT to learn in an online learning environment than female students. However, similar research by González-Gómez, Guardiola, Rodríguez, and Alonso (2012) indicated that the reverse was true. Still other researchers have suggested that gender has no effect on either students’ attitudes toward the use of ICT for online learning (Cuadrado-García, Ruiz-Molina, & Montoro-Pons, 2010; Hung, Chou, Chen, & Own, 2010) or students’ outcomes related to using ICT to learn online (Chu, 2010). Hence, this specific line of research (into online learning environments) does not give a definitive indication about whether differences in student gender perceptions exist.
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Whereas the studies reviewed in the previous paragraph examined students’ perceptions according to gender of using ICT in online learning environments, the current study examines students’ perceptions of the use of ICT in traditional primary school classroom settings. Only six prior studies were able to be located that examine this issue in traditional primary school classrooms which, again, provide conflicting results. Research by Bolliger and Supanakorn (2011) and Schroeder and Adesope (2015) suggested that no gender differences exist in student perceptions of the use of ICT in the classroom. However, studies by Snell (2012) and Wehrwein, Lujan, and DiCarlo (2007) indicated that males had more positive attitudes towards using technology in the classroom than females, and research by Bain and Rice (2007) suggested that male students display higher levels of confidence and interest in technology use than their female counterparts. Finally, research by Koul et al. (2011) suggested that female students had more favourable perceptions of a technology-rich classroom than male students.
Overall, this section (Section 2.5.2) has indicated that past studies into gender perpetual differences in relation to ICT use within learning environments (whether online- or classroom-based) are few in number and yield conflicting results. As such, the present study aimed to build on this body of research by providing a further investigation of whether gender differences exist in primary school students’ perceptions related to their use of ICT in the learning environment. The following section (Section 2.5.3) examines literature related to differences in gender perceptions in terms of students’ self-reports of self-efficacy, enjoyment of class, and enjoyment of using ICT.
2.5.3 Gender Differences in Students’ Self-Reports of Affective Outcomes (Self- efficacy, Enjoyment of class, and Enjoyment of using ICT)
This section (Section 2.5.3) reviews literature related to gender perceptual differences in students’ self-reports of affective outcomes. The affective outcomes included in the present study were student self-efficacy and student enjoyment (of class and ICT use).
In terms of gender differences in student self-efficacy, some studies suggest that differences exist. For example, research by Dorman and Fraser (2009) and Fischer,
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Schult, and Hell (2013) indicated that male students had higher levels of self-efficacy than female students. A study by Spinath, Spinath, and Plomin (2008) suggested that male students had higher perceptions of their abilities, particularly in mathematics, than female students. Other studies have documented that female students have lower levels of self-efficacy associated with the use of ICT than their male counterparts (Broos, 2005; Broos & Roe, 2006; Durndell & Haag; 2002; Laosethakul, Leingpibul, & Coe, 2012).
In contrast, other studies have indicated that self-efficacy does not vary according to gender (see, for example, Britner & Pajares, 2006; Kiran & Sungur, 2012; Snell, 2012; Usher & Pajares, 2006). As Boz et al. (2016) noted, although overall, no significant relationship existed in the results of their study between gender and student self- efficacy, females’ more favourable perceptions of their learning environment led them to have higher academic self-efficacy than their male counterparts.
The second affective outcome examined in the present study was students’ enjoyment (in relation to both their class and their ICT use). Few studies were found to exist that investigated student enjoyment, particularly at the primary school level. However, one study by Peer and Fraser (2015) suggested that male students perceived higher levels of enjoyment (in science classes) compared to females. Further, a study conducted at the tertiary level by Pekrun et al. (2011) indicated that female psychology students reported higher levels of enjoyment of class than their male counterparts. However, the effect size for this gender difference was small, suggesting minimal educational importance.
Much of the past research related to gender differences and enjoyment outcomes has been conducted with reference to particular subject areas. For example, Frenzel, Goetz, Pekrun, and Watt (2010) found that females had lower levels of interest and enjoyment in mathematics than their male counterparts. Research by Lindberg, Hyde, Petersen, and Linn (2010) and Chen, Yang, and Hsiao (2016) support this finding, yet showed that despite this attitudinal difference, both genders perform equally in mathematics. According to Vandecandelaere, Speybroeck, Vanlaar, De Fraine, and Van Damme (2012), male students value mathematics more than female students but enjoy mathematics less than their female counterparts. Several studies have suggested
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that female students have lower levels of interest in and enjoyment of science than male students (Buccheri, Gürber, & Brühwiler, 2011; Fischer et al., 2013; Hannover & Kessels, 2006; Miller, Slawinski Blessing, & Schwartz, 2006).
Few studies exist that have examined gender differences in primary school students’ perceptions of affective outcomes. It is possible that this lack of research may be attributed to a perception that few differences exist between the attitudes (such as enjoyment) of males and females at the primary school level and that gender differences are more likely to manifest in secondary school (Alexakos & Antoine, 2003; Wolf & Fraser, 2008). Other research, however, suggests that gender-typical interests develop in individual children at a young age, (Buccheri et al., 2011; Chen & Darst, 2002), suggesting that it is important to examine gender perceptual differences of primary school students in the present study. As such, the present study extends past research by investigating whether gender differences do exist between students’ self-reports of self-efficacy and enjoyment (of class and ICT use) at the primary school level.
Overall, the review of literature outlined in this section (Section 2.5) suggests that few past studies have investigated gender differences in students’ perceptions of the learning environment and their use of ICT or students’ self-reports of affective outcomes. This conclusion is supported by Chen et al. (2016), who suggest that differences in gender perceptions of the learning environment are relatively unexplored. The research into differences in student gender perceptions that does exist shows mixed results. This lack of research is particularly acute at the primary school level. Therefore, the present study aimed to contribute to the field by examining the gender differences that exist at the primary school level between students’ perceptions of their learning environment, students’ perceptions of their use of ICT, and the student outcomes of self-efficacy and enjoyment (of class and using ICT). The following section (Section 2.6) reviews the literature related to at-risk students (in relation to research objective 6).
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