Abstract:
Although studies on learning environments, or classroom climate, have flourished in the past decade, little is known about how student perceptions of the learning environment are associated with student psychosocial beliefs and outcomes at the tertiary level. The purpose of this doctoral project was to explore student conceptions of tertiary learning environments, and whether student assessments of their learning environments were associated with their self-expectations, motivational beliefs, as well as achievement. In Study One, 24 interviews were conducted with university students to explore their conceptions of typical, ideal, and dreaded learning environments. Results revealed various behaviours and qualities, exhibited by both teachers and students. In Study Two, a new learning environment questionnaire was developed, using the themes found in Study One to guide the instrumentation. The questionnaire was administered to 711 undergraduate students. Finally, using another sample of 751 undergraduate students, Study Three confirmed the structure of the newly developed questionnaire from Study Two, and investigated the relations between students’ psychosocial beliefs and outcomes. Consequently, this doctoral project confirmed the structure of a new 10-factor learning environment questionnaire which was then used for subsequent analyses. This thesis concludes by arguing that it has contributed to understanding ways in which tertiary students’ views of their environments may relate to their beliefs as learners situated within these environments, and how these beliefs about self-expectations and motivation can explain some variance in their achievement.
