Development of an instrument for assessing classroom psychosocial environment at universities and colleges

Despite a strong tradition of research and practical applications involving perceptions of classroom psychosocial environment in primary and secondary schools, surprisingly little analogous work has been conducted at the tertiary level. Consequently, in order to facilitate such work, an economical new instrument called the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI) was developed to assess students' or teachers' perceptions of seven dimensions of the actual or preferred environment (e.g. personalisation, involvement, task orientation, individualisation) of university or college seminars and tutorials. Validation data collected from a total sample of 499 students and 20 instructors supported each scale's internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity in either its actual or preferred form, with either Australian or American students, for both students and instructors, and using either the individual or the class mean as the unit of analysis. Potentially useful applications of the instrument for research purposes and for improving teaching in higher education are considered.