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Cited by 13Citizenship Education and DemocracyEducational Environments and Student OutcomesEducator Training and Historical Pedagogy

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Open Classroom Climate in International Large-Scale Assessments: Individual Construct or Climate Construct?

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Myoung, Eunjung, Liou, Pey-Yan·2025·Sage Open
DOI 10.1177/21582440251323560
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Abstract

This study examines the conceptualization and operationalization of the open classroom climate construct in existing empirical works. Open classroom climate is a classroom environment where adolescents can freely discuss political issues and express their opinions. The study reviewed 45 secondary data analysis articles that examined the open classroom climate construct from the Civic Education Study and the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study , the major international large-scale assessments. This review identified inconsistencies in how these studies define and analyze the open classroom climate construct. These inconsistencies arise from the different interpretations of the construct whether as an individual construct that reflects students’ distinctive perceptions or as a climate construct that represents a collective classroom experience. Due to varied conceptualizations, researchers employed different operationalization approaches, each incorporating distinct statistical methods. It led to varied results and impeded the development of a unified understanding of the concept. Our study emphasizes the necessity for a clear and consistent conceptualization of the open classroom climate construct for future works. It implores researchers to deliberate on the construct’s nature, endorsing a proper operationalization to understand open classroom climate aptly.

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Metadata

Authors
Myoung, E., & Liou, P.-Y.
Affiliations
  • Stanford University (US)
  • Korea University (KR)
Corresponding author
Liou, Pey-Yan
ORCID
Venue
Sage Open
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2025-01
Volume
15
Issue
1
ISSN
2158-2440 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1177/21582440251323560
OpenAlex
W4408365675
Cited by
13
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 1
FWCI
10.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • SAGE Open (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
College of Education, Korea University Grant in 2024 (K2408331)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Citizenship Education and Democracy
  • Social Sciences › Education › Educational Environments and Student Outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Education › Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy
Keywords
construct conceptualization, construct operationalization, ICCS, international large-scale assessment, citizenship education, adolescents, secondary analysis

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Myoung, E., & Liou, P.-Y. (2025). Open Classroom Climate in International Large-Scale Assessments: Individual Construct or Climate Construct? Sage Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251323560