Резюме. In this paper, the authors’ collective is presenting a questionnaire, designed and tested by them for the regular evaluation of the educational environment in high schools. It consists of 50 multiple choice questions about quality of learning and relations between school children and teachers. The questionnaire was tested on the students of three high schools in Varna. It was distributed to male and female students of the 9\(^{th}\), 10\(^{th}\) and 11\(^{th}\) grades. The data set consists of 693 respondents − schoolboys and girls characterized by their answers to 50 questions each one ranked by values from 1 to 5. Non-hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to find patterns of similarity between the questions or between the pupils. The results verified the constructive value of the questionnaire as a method of evaluation of the educational environment in high schools.

Ключови думи: questionnaire; Educational environment; high school; cluster analysis.

Introduction

A school’s good atmosphere is a basis for increasing the educational quality, as it is a premise for the students’ positive attitude towards their school (Tomova et al., 2014; Boyd et al., 2009). The relationships between students, as well as these with their teachers, are an important characteristic of the life within a school (Görsev, 2010; Telli et al., 2010; Vahedi, 2010). The evaluation of the learning environment is a significant factor in the evaluation of curriculums (Genn, 2001). Organising group assignments in class contribute to the formation of friendships between students and turn school life into an enjoyable experience. The belief that students are in a team with their teacher strongly motivates them to attend class (Akinoğlu & Tandoğan, 2007). The feedback from students is undoubtedly important in order to monitor their opinions about the curriculums and the educational methods, the pedagogical approaches of instilling a spirit of cooperation, the relationships between students and their teachers. The systematic use of questionnaires would help indicate the problematic areas in the learning environment, in order for steps to be taken for their correction (Hoad-Reddick & Theaker, 2003; Aldridge et al., 2012). One aspect of the questionnaire would be monitoring whether current teaching practices are used, which can serve as an evaluation of the teachers’ activities. For instance, although a big portion of Bulgarian teachers know and praise the opportunities created by problem-based learning, few of them apply it, due to the high amount of preparation it requires, and due to the need of significant changes in the perception of a class in order for it to be applied (Tafrova-Grigorova, 2010). This constructivist approach for active learning is undoubtedly effective, as it encourages the acquisition of new knowledge based on knowledge acquired in previous classes. It requires from students to be involved in activities that stimulate them to ask questions, to research, and to solve problems; which eventually leads them to the answers of real life problems (Overton, 2007; Hmelo-Silver, 2004). However, the testing of this learning approach requires feedback, in order for it to be appropriate to students’ age and study level. The social differences between students are a stress factor which has serious implications on a school’s educational environment. Under stress, students are more prone to perceiving the environment as negative, which decreases their motivation for attending classes (Maul, 1980).

The use of a specific questionnaire is especially important for teachers and high schools’ administration, in order for them to receive quality feedback from their students. Effective management of the learning process requires the introduction to appropriate changes aimed at improving the educational environment; and this can only be done after the results from its evaluation have been analysed. A link between the environment in which students learn, and the quality of their work has been identified and documented (Boyd et al., 2009; Jawaid, 2013). The positive environment gives students self-confidence and it motivates them to achieve better results. The way students perceive their educational environment is highly influenced by the available learning facilities, by their expectations, by their cultural background and upbringing and by their past education (Genn, 2001; Jawaid et al., 2013). This illustrates the importance of students’ opinions on the educational environment.

In this paper, the authors’ collective is presenting a questionnaire, designed and tested by them for the regular evaluation of the educational environment in high schools. The questionnaire was tested on the students of three high schools in Varna: High School of Mathemathics “Doctor Peter Beron”; High School of Commerce “Georgi S. Rakovski”; Fifth Language School “Joan Exarch”.

Materials and methods

Questionnaire

Questionnaire consists of 50 questions, corresponding to the 5-point Likert psychometric scale for measuring social aptitudes. There are: questions related to the educational process (1, 7, 10, 11, 19, 23, 24, 50); questions related to the role of the teacher in the educational process (2, 9, 21, 28, 29, 31, 32); questions related to the relationship between teacher and pupils (14, 16, 17, 30, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 45, 47, 48); questions related to the personal attitude of the pupils to the educational process (8, 12, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 39, 40, 41, 42, 49); questions related to optimization of the educational process (3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 26, 27, 36, 43, 44, 46). Answers were thus given in points; the highest number of total points corresponding to a maximal positive view of school life.

The possible answers are: I strongly disagree.; I somewhat disagree.; I am not sure.; I somewhat agree.; I strongly agree.

Statistical approach

In this study non-hierarchical clustering of the input data was used. The advantage of this method is that one could preliminary select the number of clusters into which the input data should be classified. Therefore, in order to cluster the 50 questions from the questionnaire 5 clusters were chosen, which corresponds to the number of categories into which the questionnaire could be subdivided from theoretical point of view. For the clustering of the pupils, participating in the study the number of clusters chosen was three since the participants are from grades 9, 10, and 11. It is difficult to expect that the supervised clustering will result in exactly the same preliminary categories but, at least, it give a starting point for proper data interpretation. This type of cluster analysis allows the identification of smaller groups of specific questions (outliers), to which participants in the questionnaire have a specific attitude. All calculations were performed with software package STATISTICA 8.0

The data set consists of 693 objects − schoolboys and girls of three high schools in Varna, grades 9, 10, and 11, characterized by their answers to 50 questions each one ranked by values from 1 to 5 of a questionnaire about quality of learning and relations between schoolchildren and teachers. The male to female ratio of students is approximately

Results and discussion

Non-hierarchical cluster analysis of the 50 questions - assessment of the learning process

After the non-hierachical cluster analysis the questions were grouped into five categories. The questions from the questionnaire are clustered differently for the three different schools (Table 1, Figs. 1 - 3), although in all of them five clusters are formed by non-hierarchical clustering of the variables (questions 1-50).