Differential effectiveness of alternative middle-school science sequences for students of different ethnicities

Preservice teachers’ perceptions of learning environments before and after pandemic-related course disruption

“…Within learning environment research, there is a long and rich tradition of using classroom environment criteria as measures of the effectiveness of myriad educational innovations or programs. For example, learning environment characteristics have been used to evaluate outcomes-focused education (Aldridge & Fraser, 2008 ), mixed-mode delivery (Koh & Fraser, 2014 ), using games to teach mathematics at the university level (Afari et al, 2013 ), the professional development of inservice teachers (Nix et al, 2005 ), anthropometry activities in science (Lightburn & Fraser, 2007 ), computer-assisted learning (Teh & Fraser, 1995 ), innovative methods for teaching mathematics (Spinner & Fraser, 2005 ), reality pedagogy (Sirrakos & Fraser, 2017 ), outdoor learning environments (Zaragoza & Fraser, 2017 ), middle-school science laboratory activities (Wolf & Fraser, 2008 ) and alternative science topic arrangements (Long et al, 2020 ). The study reported in this article adds to the field of learning environments because it is probably the first to use learning environment criteria in investigating the impact of the sudden disruption to instruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Effectiveness of project-based mathematics in first-year high school in terms of learning environment and student outcomes

“…In future studies of project-based methods, a greater variety of student outcomes (in addition to Enjoyment, Efficacy and Achievement as in our study) could broaden understanding of the impact of project-based mathematics. Because our study revealed noteworthy differences in the effectiveness of project-based mathematics for male and females, we encourage the future investigation of the differential effect of educational programs on the learning environment of students of different genders as in our study or of different ethnicities as in Long, Sinclair and Fraser's (2020) study of alternative science sequences.…”