4. The Research Findings
4.1 Descriptive Statistics
The table shows that the percent of the children aged nine to eleven is higher among the students of the Gordon Center than in the traditional schools, while among children aged eleven to fourteen the percentage of children in the traditional schools is higher than in the Gordon Center. In the Gordon Center there is a higher percentage of boys than in the traditional schools while in the traditional schools the number of Hebrew speakers is lower than that in the Gordon Center.
Table number 5 presents the means, standard deviations, and internal reliability of the variable of the styles of thinking in the entire sample.
Table Number 5: Descriptive Statistics of the Dimensions of Styles of Thinking in the Entire Sample
Variable Dimension Items Mean Standard Deviatio
n
Minimum
Local 1,2,18 4.05 0.83 1.00
Executive 2,11,19,20,24 3.90 0.72 1.50
Internal 1,6,8,14,18 3.48 0.80 1.00
External 9,10,15,22,23 4.09 0.78 1.00
Liberal 5,7,3,16,25 4.14 0.78 1.00
Style of Thinkin g
Conservative 19,20,22,23 3.67 0.82 1.50
Table number 5 shows that there is above average agreement on the part of the subjects with the dimensions of style of thinking. It can be seen that the styles of thinking that most characterize the students in the entire sample are: local, external, and liberal. However, variance is apparent in the subjects’
responses. This variance is expressed in the range of responses, as expressed in the difference between the minimum values and the maximum values. After the examination of Cronbach’s alpha, a good level of reliability was obtained in all the dimensions.
Table number 6 presents the means and standard deviations of the styles of thinking in each one of the two learning environments researched here. To examine whether there are
significant differences t test for independent samples was conducted and its results are presented in the table.
Table Number 6: Perception of the Styles of Thinking by the Students in the Two Learning Environments
Gordon Center N=161
Traditional Schools N=79 Style of
Thinking
Mean Standard Deviatio
n
Mean Standard Deviatio
n
t(230)
Local 4.02 0.86 4.13 0.77 0.97
Executive 3.82 0.76 4.05 0.61 *2.28
Internal 3.45 0.82 3.53 0.77 0.72
External 4.12 0.76 4.02 0.83 -0.9
Liberal 4.11 0.84 4.21 0.64 0.89
Conservative 3.66 0.83 3.69 0.80 0.24
Table number 6 shows that the patterns of thinking styles in both learning environments are similar to one another and also to the general sample. The executive and the liberal thinking styles are high in both environments and the only meaningful difference is in the executive style, which more characterizes the students of the schools than the students of the Gordon Center.
Table number 7 presents the means, standard deviations, and internal reliability of the dimensions of the perception of the learning environment by the student in the entire sample that is comprised of two learning environments.
Table Number 7: Descriptive Statistics of the Perception of the Learning Environment by the Student in the Entire Sample
Variable Dimension Items Mean Standard Deviatio
n
Minimum
Social
climate 12,13,17,21 3.93 0.75 1.67
Perception of
Learning
Environm Learning
climate 2,11,19,20,24 3.95 0.84 1.00
Motivation
to learn 1,6,8,14,18 3.94 0.82 1.00
Resources manageme nt
9,10,15,22,23 3.73 0.75 1.00
ent
Teacher’s
support 5,7,3,16,25 3.66 1.03 1.00
Table number 7 shows that there is an above average positive perception of the subjects with the dimensions of the learning environment, when the dimension with the highest average of agreement is that of ‘learning climate’. Study of table number 7 shows that the dimensions of ‘resources’ and ‘teacher’s support’
were less identified by the students in comparison to the other dimensions of the learning environment. However, variance in the subjects’ responses is apparent. This variance is expressed in the range of the responses as expressed in the difference between the minimum values and the maximum values and in the values of the standard deviation. It should be noted that an identical dispersion was found in regards to the dimensions of ‘social climate’ and
‘resources’. Examination of Cronbach’s alpha yielded a good reliability in all the dimensions of the learning environment and in the general variable in the overall sample.
Table number 8 presents the means and standard deviations of the perception of the learning environment in each one of the two researched learning environments. To examine whether there are significant differences t test for independent samples was performed and the results are presented in the table.
Table Number 8: Perception of the Learning Environment by the Students in the Two Learning Environments
Perception of Learning Environment
Gordon Center
N=161
Traditional Schools
N=79
t (
M e a n
S ta
n d a r d D
e vi at io n
M e a n
S ta
n d a r d D e vi at io n
2 3 7 )
Social climate 3.91 0.77 3.94 0.71 0.25
Learning climate 3.98 0.92 4.04 0.67 1.18
Motivation to learn 3.98 0.84 3.85 0.76 -1.1
Resources management 3.72 0.80 3.73 0.64 0.12
Teacher’s support 3.54 1.11 3.88 0.82 *2.44
Perception of learning
environment 3.82 0.71 3.89 0.59 0.91
The table shows that the patterns of the perception of the learning environment in both frameworks is similar and is similar to the general sample in that the most meaningful dimensions for the student were the learning climate and the social climate. A significant difference was found in the perception of the teachers support. Students in traditional schools perceived the teacher’s support as higher than did the students in the Gordon Center.
Table number 9 presents the means of the students’ achievements according to the number of riddles they solved. The students coped with 24 riddles. The coping was in the Gordon Center in small teams (three to five children) and in schools in large teams (class coping).
The students’ achievements were calculated according to the number of riddles they solved in percentage (see table number 9).
Some teams did not solve riddles at all or only solved a very few, one to three riddles. 101 students solved more than three riddles and their achievements were written down.
Table Number 9: Achievements of the Students in the Entire Sample and in the Different Learning Environments
Parameter Entire Sample
Gordon Group
Traditional Schools Lowest
achievement
45.83%
(11 riddles)
45.83%
(11 riddles)
75%
(18 riddles) Highest
achievement 95.83%
(23 riddles)
95.83%
(23 riddles)
91.67%
(22 riddles) Mean
achievement (standard deviation)
72.89%
(12.74%)
69.51%
(14.8%)
77.81%
(6.35%)
It can be seen that the achievements of the students in the Gordon Center are lower than those of the students in the traditional schools. To examine the difference in percentage of the achievements t test for independent samples was performed and found a significant difference in the percentage of the achievements between students in the traditional schools and students in the Gordon Center [t(99)=3.39, p<0.001]. Thus, the achievements of the students of the traditional schools were higher than that of the students in the Gordon Center.