I came across a reference to the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI) to measure the psychosocial environment f the tertiary classroom. I think this is a fascinating instrument as we all know the importance of the environment on student motivation, participation and success. I am wondering if anyone has used this for their own research into language learning environments (and in particular in the area of distance education or self-access; it would be particularly interesting to carry out a comparison of ‘regular’ classrooms with the environment offered in ‘alternative’ forms of language support). I did find a study that investigated tertiary (not language) classrooms using this instrument and am copying the link to it below. The instrument itself can easily be found online.
The reference to the original paper:
Fraser, B.J., Treagust, D.F., & Dennis, N.C. (1986). Development of an instrument for assessing classroom psychosocial environment in universities and colleges. Studies in Higher Education, 11(1), 43-54.
And the paper using this instrument: http://www.csd.uwa.edu.au/iced2002/publication/Sid_Nair.pdf
Tags: learning environments