An Examination of the Relationship between Intellectual Risk-Taking in a Social Studies Course and Classroom Climate

Abstract

This research examined the relationship between intellectual risk-taking in social studies and classroom climate. The study group consisted of 294 middle school pupils, 148 of whom were female and 145 were male. Intellectual Risk-Taking in Social Studies Course Scale (IRTSCS) and Classroom Climate Perceived by Students Scale (CCPSS) were utilizated as data collection instruments. In the research, the canonical correlation analysis was implemented to scrutinize the relationship between the IRTSCS data set composed of the Approach to Taking Intellectual Risk (APTIR) and the Avoidance from Taking Intellectual Risk (ATIR) variables and the CCPSS data set consisted of the Peer Backing (PB), Teacher Backing (TB), Gratification (G), and Intellectual Proficiency (IP) variables. Two canonical functions were obtained from the analysis, and one of them was statistically significant. The shared variance between intellectual risk-taking in social studies course and students’ views about classroom climate was 23% in the canonical model composed of the cumulative values of the canonical functions.

Keywords

• Academic risk taking
• social studies oriented academic risk taking
• classroom climate
• canonical correlation
• secondary school students

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