Students Speak

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Students Speak Teachers Hear
David Wood Dr Jill Aldridge Kath Murray
Sevenoaks Senior College
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Monitoring and Improving our Learning Environment

• Introduction - David Wood
• Classroom learning environment
• School- level environment
• Research program development - Dr Jill Aldridge
• Research tools
• Whole school
• Learning Area
• Individual classroom teacher
• Action learning
• Teacher perspective - Kath Murray
• Impact on teaching and learning at Sevenoaks
• Questions and Discussion

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A little about Sevenoaks

• Sevenoaks opened in February 2001
• Caters for up to 550 Year 11 and 12 students
• Started with 380 30ESC students
• This year 560 and 30 ESC students
• Local school for Yule Brook College and
  Cannington CC but programs attract students
  metropolitan wide
• 8.3 0.16 m building and redevelopment program
• Curriculum meets student needs of all students
• Flexibility is the key to our success

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Why did we implement this program?

• To improve student outcomes (both retention and
  achievement) we need to do things differently.
• To help us develop a different culture.
• We need to reflect on our practices and tweak
  what we do in response to feedback, and have ways
  of seeing whether this results in improvement.
• We all need to listen teachers to their students
  and administrators to teachers.
• We need impartial and independent ways to achieve
  this.
• If all of us individually improve our
  performance, we will have an infinitely better
  school.
• We spend millions on ICT, but does it make a
  difference?
• Can ICT help enable a true outcomes-focussed
  approach?

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Monitoring and Improving our Learning Environment

• Sought partnership with Curtin University of
  Technology and industries.
• Obtained a SPIRT (now Linkage) Grant
• Partners key to success.
• Professor Barry Fraser international leader in
  learning environment research.
• Dr Jill Aldridge, Post-Doctoral Fellow has worked
  with us throughout the Project
• Significant piece of research.
• Processes now embedded.

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Selecting the Questionnaire to get Student
Feedback

• Used students perceptions to tap into what was
  happening
• Included scales considered relevant to
  outcomes-focused and ICT-rich learning
  environments
• Include scales that have been shown to be
  predictors of outcomes

• Student Cohesiveness
• Teacher Support
• Involvement
• Task Orientation
• Investigation
• Cooperation
• Equity
• Differentiation
• Computer Usage
• Young Adult Ethos

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Monitoring the Development of the Learning
Environment

• Data collected in 2001, 2002, 2003 has been used
  to provide a snapshot of students perceptions of
  the learning environment.
• The data was analysed at different levels, whole
  school, learning area and individual teacher.

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Whole-School level
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Views of the Learning Environment and Attitudes
of Students Enrolled in TEE Subjects and Wholly
School-Assessed Subjects
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Learning Area level
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Individual Teacher level
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Five Step Procedure

• Assessing actual and preferred learning
  environment.
• Providing feedback.
• Reflection and discussion based on feedback.
• Implementing an intervention over 12 weeks.
• Re-administration of the questionnaire to
  students at the end of the intervention period.

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Students Perceptions After the Intervention
Period
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Teachers Perspective

• Looking critically at our own teaching practices
• Listening to students feedback
• Changing the learning environment
• Until we do this, nothing much will change.

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• Questions

• Discussion