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How teaching science using project-based learning strategies affects the classroom learning environment

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Abstract

This study involved 458 ninth-grade students from two different Arab middle schools in Israel. Half of the students learned science using project-based learning strategies and the other half learned using traditional methods (non-project-based). The classes were heterogeneous regarding their achievements in the sciences. The adapted questionnaire contained 38 statements concerning students’ perceptions of the science classroom climate. The results of the study revealed that students who learned sciences by project-based teaching strategies perceived their classroom learning climate as significantly more Satisfying and Enjoyable, with greater Teacher Supportiveness, and the Teacher–Student Relationships as significantly more positive. The differences between the experimental (project-based learning strategies) and control (non-project) groups regarding their perceptions of the science classroom learning climate could be explained by differences between the two science teaching and learning strategies.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to extend my most sincere thanks to the college president Advocate Zaki Kamal for his support of this research. I also wish to thank Dr Raed Zidan for his assistance in the statistical analysis. My profound thanks also go to Dr Iyad Dkedik, Dr. Ahmad Bashir and Ms. Aiysha Sindyani for their scientific advice. Many thanks to Professor Avi Hofstein for his fruitful advice.

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Correspondence to Muhamad Hugerat.

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Hugerat, M. How teaching science using project-based learning strategies affects the classroom learning environment. Learning Environ Res 19, 383–395 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-016-9212-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-016-9212-y

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