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Students' Perceptions of Interpersonal Aspects of the Learning Environment

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Abstract

This study examined variables associated with differences in students' perceptions of interpersonal teacher behavior. The perceptions of 3023 students and 74 teachers in 168 classes in seven secondary schools were used in the analyses. Investigating variance at the student, class, teacher and school levels revealed that several variables are significantly related to students' perceptions: student and teacher gender, student and teacher ethnic background, student age and grade, class size, grade level, subject taught and teacher experience. There were interaction effects between some variables, such as student ethnicity and student gender, as well as student and teacher gender. While significant, the amount of variance explained by these was low (around 10%). The outcomes generally confirmed earlier research, although some new effects were found. Perhaps the main result of the study was its verification of the complex and interactive nature of students' perceptions of the learning environment and researchers' understanding of it.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Education, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, MS 4B3, Fairfax, VA, 22030-4444, USA

    Jack Levy

  2. Institute of Educational Studies, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 TC, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Theo Wubbels

  3. IVLOS Institute of Education, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80127, 3508 TC, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Perry Den Brok & Mieke Brekelmans

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  1. Jack Levy
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  2. Theo Wubbels
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  4. Mieke Brekelmans
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Levy, J., Wubbels, T., Den Brok, P. et al. Students' Perceptions of Interpersonal Aspects of the Learning Environment. Learning Environments Research 6, 5–36 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022967927037

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