Science Classroom Learning Environments in Afghanistan: Assessment, Effects and Determinants

Abstract

Although the field of classroom learning environments has undergone remarkable expansion and internationalisation, no study in Afghanistan in any subject area or at any educational level has ever adopted a learning environment framework or involved the assessment and investigation of classroom environments. Our study in Afghanistan included seven learning environment scales from the widely-used What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire, together with two scales assessing the student attitudes of Enjoyment and Self-regulation. After minor modifications to suit the Afghani context, scales were translated into Dari (one of the two dominant languages in Afghanistan) and then independently back-translated to check the accuracy of the original translation. Analyses of data from 1619 grade 10‐12 science students supported the validity and reliability of the Dari-language scales. Past research in other countries was replicated in Afghanistan in that positive and statistically-significant associations were found between the learning environment and student attitudes. Some consistent patterns of gender differences and school-location differences (urban/rural) were identified.

Investigating Relationships Between Learning Environment Perceptions, Motivation and Self-Regulation for Female Science Students in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

“…Learning environment research has provided consistent evidence to suggest that "students learn better when they view the classroom environment more positively" (Dorman and Fraser 2009, p. 78). Within the context of science education, numerous studies have reported that perceptions of the learning environment impact on a range of science outcomes (Fraser 2014), including enjoyment (see, for example, Aldridge & Bell, 2014;Sayed & Fraser, 2019;Peer & Fraser, 2015), self-efficacy (see, for example, Lee, Liang, Wu, Chiou, Hsu et al, 2020;Velaytham & Aldridge, 2013XX) and career aspirations (Khalil & Aldridge, 2019). Although some research has investigated the influence of learning environment perceptions on student motivation in countries such as Turkey (Kingir, Tas, Gok, & Vural, 2013), Australia and Africa (Opolot-Okurut, 2010;Schulze & van Heerdem, 2015), there is very limited research that investigates learning environment-motivation relationships in Arabic countries, and none that has focused on girls at the high school level.…”

Sex and frequency of practical work as determinants of middle-school science students’ learning environment perceptions and attitudes

“…In Afghanistan, Sayed & Fraser (2019) administered a Dari translation of one SALES scale (namely, Self-regulation) to 1610 grade 10-12 science students in a range of school sizes and of various ethnic and social groups. All schools were single-gender because there is no co-education in Afghanistan.…”