What about the tertiary climate? Reflecting on five decades of class climate research

Abstract

Although studies on, and reviews of, class 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 paper is to synthesise the current body of literature and describe how the class climate area has developed over time, with a particular focus on tertiary climate studies and their underrepresentation in learning environments research. Throughout this review, it will be argued that reflection on five decades of research into learning environments reveals a number of gaps, such as the lack of attempts to conceptualise and evaluate the tertiary climate as a unique learning context, the under-representation of qualitative studies in the field, and the lack of studies that explored the potential influences of the tertiary climate on student psychosocial beliefs and outcomes.