The Learning Environment of High School Students in Chemistry and Biology Laboratories

In this article a comparison of students' perceptions of laboratory classes in chemistry and biology is presented. By using the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), pronounced and significant differences between chemistry and biology laboratory environments were found on two of the subscales: 'Integration' that describes the extent to which its laboratory activities are integrated with non-laboratory and classroom learning and 'Open-endedness', a subscale that measures the extent to which the laboratory emphasises an open-ended, divergent, and an individualised approach to experimentation. It is suggested that the SLEI can be considered as a sensitive tool to measure students' perceptions of their learning environment in different subject matters during the laboratory work. In this study the SLEI was also used to compare students' actual and preferred learning environments and to explore gender differences regarding this issue.