The chapter provided a description of the methods used to answer my four research questions, the research design, the selection of scales for the environment and attitude questionnaire, the sample, and data-analysis methods for each research question.
Section 3.1 revisited the four research questions involving the validity and reliability of the environment and attitude questionnaires, differences between instructional methods, whether instructional-method differences are different for males and females, and association between learning environment and students’ attitudes to learning.
Section 3.2 described the research design used for this study. An ex post facto design was used to compare inquiry and non-inquiry-based instructional methods. The research setting for this study was also described in this section.
Section 3.3 discussed the data sources, including the selection and assembling of the instruments used in this study. Scales pertinent for my research were carefully
selected from the WIHIC and the CLES to form the IBLES. Three scales from the WIHIC (Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, and Involvement) and three scales from the CLES (Personal Relevance, Critical Voice, and Student Negotiation) were combined to form the environment questionnaire, while three scales from the TOSRA (Attitude of Scientific Inquiry, Enjoyment of Science, and Social Implications of Science) were initially included for this study. The sample for this study consisted of 1,396 grades 9‒12 biology and earth science students (733 males and 663 females) from 35 classrooms (20 inquiry-based classrooms and 15 non- inquiry-based classrooms) in Los Angeles County, California.
Section 3.4 described the data-collection procedures, as well as the ethical and statutory considerations involved in obtaining school districts’, school sites’ and parents’ approval. Also, school and classroom demographics, the role of teachers, and the guidelines and procedures for administration of the questionnaires were also described in this section.
To answer research question #1, the validity and reliability of the scales of IBLES and TOSRA selected for this investigation were checked using the principal axis factor analysis with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalization. The two criteria for retention of any item were that it must have a factor loading of not less than 0.40 on its own scale and less than 0.40 on all other scales. Next, scale internal consistency reliability was checked for every scale using Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient.
To answer research questions #2 and #3, a two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine if the use of inquiry-based instruction was effective and if it was differentially effective for males and females in terms of students’ perceptions and attitudes. If Wilks’ lambda criterion produced statistically significant multivariate differences between instructional methods and sexes, the two-way univariate ANOVA would be interpreted separately for each of the eight dependent variables. The results of this analysis are reported in Chapter 4, Section 4.3. Cohen’s d was used to describe the magnitude of instructional or sex differences in standard deviation units.
To answer research question #4, simple correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between students’ perceptions of their learning environments and their attitudinal outcomes. Simple correlation analysis examined the bivariate relationship between each student attitude scale and each of the six learning environment scales from IBLES. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the joint influence of the set of correlated learning environment scales on each attitude scale. Next, standardized regression coefficients were used to provide information about which environment scales contributed significantly to the variance in students’ attitudes when all other environment scales were mutually controlled.
Chapter 4 reports the results obtained from the analyses of questionnaire data and uses these results to answer my four research questions. These results are described quantitatively using tables and graphs.
Chapter 4
DATA ANALYSES AND RESULTS
4.1 Introduction
My study involved the administration of comprehensively-validated scales to assess classroom environment drawn from the WIHIC (Kim, Fisher & Fraser, 2000; Koul & Fisher, 2003) and the CLES (Johnson & McClure, 2000; Kim, Fisher & Fraser, 1999; Nix, Fraser, & Ledbetter, 2005), and to assess attitudes drawn from the TOSRA (Fraser, 1978, 1981; Fraser & Lee, 2009). This chapter presents the data analyses and results that answer each of the following research questions of my study:
a. Firstly, is it possible to develop valid and reliable measures of high-school science students’ perceptions of inquiry-based classroom learning environments and their attitudes towards science?
b. Secondly, is inquiry-based instruction effective in terms of students’ perceptions of learning environment and attitudes towards science?
c. Thirdly, is inquiry-based instruction differentially effective for male and female students in terms of perceptions of learning environment and attitudes towards science?
d. Fourthly, are there associations between students’ perceptions of inquiry- based learning environments and their attitudes towards science?
To answer the first research question involving the validity and reliability of my questionnaires, analyses of data obtained from 1,396 grades 9‒12 biology and earth science students in 35 classes were performed for two instruments: the Inquiry- Based Learning Environment Survey (IBLES), consisting of WIHIC and CLES scales, and the Test Of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA). Details of the procedures for the development of the classroom environment instrument and selection of the scales for the attitude survey were described in Section 3.3 of the previous chapter. This chapter is divided into four sections:
Section 4.2 Research Question #1: Validity and Reliability of IBLES and TOSRA 4.2.1 Factor Structure of Learning Environment and Attitude Scales 4.2.2 Internal Consistency Reliability for IBLES and TOSRA Scales 4.2.3 Internal Consistency Reliability of WIHIC and CLES from
Past Studies
Section 4.3 Research Question #2: Differences between Instructional Methods and Research Question #3: Whether Instructional-Method Differences are Different for Males and Females
4.3.1 Instructional-Method Differences in Learning Environment and Attitude Scales
4.3.2 Sex Differences in Learning Environment and Attitude Scales 4.3.3 Interaction between Instructional Method and Sex
Section 4.4 Research Question #4: Associations between Learning Environment and Student Attitudes
Section 4.5 Chapter Summary.