TABLE OF CONTENTS A major contribution of the present study is the development and validation of a widely-applicable and distinctive questionnaire for assessing students perceptions of their actual and preferred classroom learning environments in technology-rich, outcomes-focused classroom learning settings. This research, by examining the learning environment in an innovative new school and its impact on student attitudes towards learning and computer use, academic efficacy and student achievement, has the potential to provide information to teachers on how ICT can be used in creating outcomes-focused education and promoting improved outcomes for all students.
A new questionnaire (Technology-Rich Outcomes-Focused Learning Environment Inventory, TROFLEI) measures 10 dimensions of the actual and preferred classroom environments at the high school level, namely, Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Investigation, Task Orientation, Cooperation, Equity, Differentiation, Computer Usage and Young Adult Ethos. The questionnaire has 77 items and includes a novel structure that incorporates the actual and preferred responses on the same form, thus providing an economical format that reduces the amount of administration time.
The total sample available for the analyses reported in this chapter consisted of 1,035 student responses from 80 classes. The sample included Grade 11 and 12 students from across all learning areas at an innovative new senior high school.
The TROFLEI was found to be valid and reliable at the senior high school level across a number of different subjects and learning areas. A series of item and factor analyses led to a refined version of the TROFLEI that displays satisfactory factorial...
