Science Education in Indonesia: A Classroom Learning Environment Perspective.

Abstract

This chapter discusses the status of science education in Indonesian lower secondary schools from a classroom learning environment perspective. The study investigated how science education was delivered in the classroom and how the students perceived their classroom-learning environment. The investigations were conducted in two stages and used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. A multi-site case study which was used to investigate science teaching and learning processes in the classroom included a questionnaire survey to explore students' perceptions of their classroom learning environment. A valid and reliable instrument, namely, the Indonesian version of the modified What Is Happening In this Class (WIHIC) questionnaire, was administered with a sample of 1,188 Year 9 students from 16 urban and rural schools. The findings showed that students tended to prefer a more favourable classroom learning environment than the one they actually experienced; female students generally held slightly more positive perceptions than did male students; and students in rural schools experienced a less positive learning environment than did their counterparts in urban areas. Findings from this multi-site case study that involved classroom observations in two urban and two rural schools supported the findings from the questionnaire survey. Classroom observations confirmed that science teaching in urban schools is better than that in rural schools, thus reflecting students' perceptions of their classroom environments.