Summary on the article 2

Student Perceptions of Chemistry Laboratory Learning Environments, Student-Teacher Interactions and Attitudes in Secondary School Gifted Education Classes in Singapore by Quek Choon Lang, Angela F.L.Wong and Barry J. Fraser

Here’s an overview of the study that we have used for our group assignment:
A research was done in Singapore, with 497 participants selected from 3 independent single-sex secondary schools. They were selected based on their gender and stream differences i.e. gifted and non-gifted. The research questions were: (1) To validate the Chemistry Laboratory Environment Inventory (CLEI) and Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). (2) To investigate stream and gender differences in classroom environment perceptions on (a) the actual and preferred forms of the CLEI, (b) the actual form of the QTI. (3) To investigate associations between student attitudes to chemistry and students’ perceptions on (a) the CLEI, (b) the QTI. Only quantitative data collection method was used. The results obtained were generally meaningful and positive with regards to all the research questions where the instruments used and data collected were valid and reliable.

This study was the first to be conducted in the gifted chemistry laboratory learning environments in Singapore. It has proven to be very valuable to the administrators, students, educators, other stakeholders. Especially to the teachers, they can now obtain more information on the teaching of the gifted and about the psychosocial aspects of the chemistry laboratory learning environment for the gifted. In addition, the study assists the chemistry teachers in doing some evaluation on the laboratory environment such as making it better-equipped, with clear rules and guidelines given and more open-ended i.e. applying and infusing creativity, critical thinking skills and be more lively in approach, the extent and quality of interactions with the students such as being more dynamic and more interpersonal, and the teaching approaches applied.