ABSTRACT
Previous research has found that the learning environment (LE) in science classrooms can have a large impact on learning and interest beyond the effects of the curriculum per se. This study dealt with a science-technology LE at the middle school level, with and without project-based learning. In order to investigate the perceptions of pupils and teachers of the LE, a questionnaire was developed. There were four groups of participants in the study. Project Teachers (PT) were twenty-one teachers who taught science-technology in the 9th grade using a project-based learning approach, as part of an intervention program which included three years of in-service training workshop, 224 hours each year. Non-project Teachers (NPT) were nineteen teachers from similar schools use more traditional approaches to teaching, Project pupils (PP) were 98 pupils from a randomly selected subset of the classrooms taught by the Project Teachers. Non-project Pupils (NPP) were 364 pupils from similar schools using more traditional approaches. All pupils had studied science-technology 6 periods per week during their 7th—9th grades. The pupils completed the questionnaire while they were in the second semester of grade nine (15 years old). https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781410611017/02ccaeb1-6d7e-4ab0-ad5f-d5907077591c/content/fig92_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
