Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Theses
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Theses
    • View Item

    Learning physics in a Taiwanese college classroom: a constructivist perspective

    129383_Ying2008.pdf (760.5Kb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Ying, Wai Tsen
    Date
    2008
    Supervisor
    John Wallace
    Type
    Thesis
    Award
    PhD
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    School
    Science and Mathematics Education Centre
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/889
    Collection
    • Curtin Theses
    Abstract

    The purpose of this study is to use a constructivism as a referent to investigate how students learn physics in a Taiwanese career college classroom. Forty-nine first year, engineering major first students participated in this study of teaching and learning in my college level classroom. The theoretical framework for the study was based on the five dimensions of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) (Taylor & Fraser, 1991: Taylor, Fraser & White, 1994; Taylor, Fraser & Fisher, 1997), namely Personal Relevance, Student Negotiation, Shared Control, Critical Voice, and Uncertainty. These dimensions were employed as analytic themes to examine the qualitative data.A total of six lessons were observed: two lecture classes, two laboratory practice sessions, and two group discussion sessions. My qualitative observations, supplemented by video- and audio-recordings, of these six lessons were used to produce six classroom narratives. These six narratives were analyzed individually and then comparatively using a cross case analysis whereby the five dimensions of the CLES were employed as analytic themes. The CLES questionnaire was administered at the commencement of the semester and again at the end of the semester in order to determine any quantitative changes in students’ perceptions of their classroom environment. The various analyses were used to make several propositions about the constructivist nature of my classroom. I conclude the study with a discussion of the implications of the study and my reflections on the thesis experience.The study found that, in my Taiwanese career college physics classroom, (a) the teacher plays a central role in establishing the overall classroom learning environment, (b) student group dynamics are important in the classroom learning environment, (c) the central role of content often works against the establishment of a constructivist classroom, (d) cultural factors play a large role in determining the constructivist nature of the classroom, (e) language plays an important role in the construction of the learning environment, and (f) the students’ learning attitude affected the classroom environment.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Virtual Field Trips: Using Information Technology to Create an Integrated Science Learning Environment
      Nix, Rebekah Kincaid (2003)
      This study evaluated a new Integrated Science Learning Environment (ISLE) that bridged the gaps between the traditionally separate classroom, field trip, and information technology milieus. The ISLE model involves a ...
    • Determinants and effects of the learning environment in college classes
      Tulloch, Denton (2011)
      This study investigated sex, age, and ethnicity as determinants of classroom environment, as well as the effects of classroom environment on student attitudes at an urban two-year or junior college in Florida, USA. The ...
    • Using teacher action research to promote constructivist learning environments in mathematics classes in South Africa
      Sebela, Mokgoko Petrus (2003)
      The present research examined whether teachers in South Africa could use feedback from a learning environment instrument to help them to increase the degree to which they emphasised constructivist-oriented teaching ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.