Assessing the Science Laboratory Learning Environments at the Senior Secondary Level in An Indian School

Learning science can be made more interesting by providing the students hands on experience through experimentation and project work etc. This is especially true for science laboratories where students get a chance to test their ideas and learn difficult science concepts by performing experiments. Science laboratories have become a very important part of learning science in schools and thus students’ perceptions of their science laboratory learning environments would provide valuable insights as to how science laboratories can be further improved and the right kind of environment is created that fosters learning. This study, which is the first of its kind in India, reports the use of the modified form of Science Laboratory Learning Environment Inventory (SLEI) for assessing the students’ perceptions of their learning environments in General Science laboratories. Analysis of data of 460 students from higher secondary classes i.e. grades 10^th to 12^th provides evidence for the reliability and validity of the questionnaire for use in Indian school settings. The same data is also used for studying gender differences and the associations between students’ perceptions of their science laboratory learning environments with their attitude towards science.