Session 5 - 5th Dec 2007

Today our learning environment was very varied and enjoyable. We started the morning with group presentations of what we discussed about School A, B & C yesterday. There was a debate about school A being too result oriented and whether this is good for the students in the long run. I pointed out that the school needed to start somewhere and getting the students to obtain good results would be a good one. The schhol can have further improvements as they go along.
After that we did data entry again. We learnt how to analyse and find the mean and significant mean.
After lunch, we were brought to a the library to look where to find research work done by master and Phd graduates
Finally we came back to the class to learn how to write a reseach report.
Each group had to complete one research report.

Session 4 - 4th Dec 2007

Before we started on our group work, we went through some of the features needed in a learning environment. They were Student-teacher Interaction, Physical facilities, Learning styles of students, School leaders'vision, Parent support etc..
Then each group was given a case study. We were supposed to find evidence based on a research conducted on School C whether it had an effective learning environment. Our conclusion was it did not. Inspite of having well-disciplined students, the teachers did not motivate them to perform better in their studies. Instead the teachers blamed them for being poor learners. Furthermore, the school leaders did did not give clear directions. For example, teachers could conduct remedial lessons whenever they free like it. This discussion helps me realise what we need to do to teach our student better.
We also did some data entry. Fortunately, we were allowed to do in groups so our work was made easier. Tomorrow, we will work on the analysis.
I like my learning environment. I have many friendly course mates and the pace of the lessons is at a pace I am comfortable with.

Reflections on Session 3- 3rd Dec 2007

Today was a fruitful session learning about people like B. Fraser, D. Fisher, A. Murray and their views on Learning Environments. I found Murray's concept of the students' personal needs to learn useful. I will bear this in mind when I meet my new students next year. The two key questions addressed today were: "What to assess?" and "How to assess are?" These are vital tools for me to find out more about my students and how to create effective learning environments.
Since I a beginer researcher I will start on a small scale. My questionaire will not be too complex. I will borrow some ideas from the experts and modify them to suit my situation.
I look forward to tomorrow session while I will be taught how to analyse the data collected.

Session 3

This article is abt teacher reserch on LE

USING TEACHER ACTION RESEARCH TO PROMOTE CONSTRUCTIVIST CLASSROOM LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS IN MATHEMATICS IN SOUTH AFRICA
MOKGOKO P SEBELA
http://www.aare.edu.au/01pap/seb01443.htm

Learning Environments

This article is about connecting learning environments to other literatures