Assessment of the constructivist physics learning environments

The research task was to develop the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey According to 5E Model (CLESAF). For this reason, a learning environment was designed according to constructivist 5E model. The primary 60-item version of the survey containing some items derived from CLES (Aldridge et al., 2000), CLEQ (Waldrip et al., 2000), and WIHIC (Aldridge et al., 1999) was administrated to a sample composed of 204 8th to 10th grade students from in two high schools in Turkey.

The survey consisted of five primary components: entrance to activities, exploration of the subject, explanation of concepts, elaboration of subject with tasks, and evaluation of the entire process. Each student in the sample responded to the CLESAF. Data collected from the survey was analyzed to provide information about its reliability and validity. The revised CLESAF contained 50 items, as shown in Table 1, and the content was validated by teachers, students and fellow researchers. Each of the five scales contained ten items, which were responded to on a five-point scale (0, 1, 2, 3, 4) with the extreme alternatives of Disagree-Agree. Students were asked to indicate to what extent they agreed that each item described their physics classroom.

Table 1. Distribution of CLESAF items in view of selected from reference scales and developed by researcher

	Item Numbers in			By Researcher	Total Items
	CLES	CLEQ	WIHIC	By Researcher	Total Items
Enter/Engage	2	9,22,29	19,20	4 Items	10
Exploration	16,19,23,25	-	27,32,41,42,45	1 Item	10
Exploration	27,28,29	25	15,16,26,28	2 Items	10
Exploration	6	30	12,23,24,34,37,40	2 Items	10
Exploration	-	-	-	10 Items	10
Total Items	9	5	17	19	50

To measure students’ perceptions of their classroom environment and to assess the 5E model in this environment, qualitative and quantitative methods were combined as recommended by earlier studies (Fraser & Tobin, 1991; Tobin & Fraser, 1998). The data collected from the survey was used as a springboard for further data collection involving different research methods including interviews with teachers and students and classroom observations.

Triangulation was used to secure an in-depth understanding of the learning environment. At least 2 students from each of eight classes were initially interviewed on the basis of student responses to selected survey items. Observations were the source of many student and teacher interview questions about various actions that took place in the classroom environment.