Abstracts Category : Other

The Relationship Between Teacher-Student Interactions and Student Course Engagement from a Student Perspective

by Kelly Sue Pettis

The extent of the relationship between teacher-student interaction and student course engagement was not known. This quantitative, correlational study examined if, and to what extent, a relationship existed between these four domains and student course engagement of technical college students. The Model of Teacher Behavior, Social Cognitive Theory, and the engagement conceptual framework provided the theoretical foundations and framework for this study. The research questions addressed if there was a significant relationship between each domain of teacher-student interaction and student course engagement, and of the four domains, which was the strongest, as well as weakest predictor of student course engagement. One hundred eighty-five participants enrolled in English classes at a technical college in the Northeastern United States completed the questionnaires on Teacher Interaction and Student Course Engagement. Pearsons <i>r</i> a parametric statistic revealed a positive relationship between cooperation and student course engagement: <i>r</i> = .363, <i>p</i> < .001, two-tailed. This relationship suggested that as scores on cooperation increase, student course engagement also tends to increase. The results from the bootstrap approach for the regression analysis suggested the cooperation domain was significantly associated with course engagement: 95% CI [.32, 1.41]. This study adds to the existing body of knowledge on teacher-student interactions and student course engagement by focusing on each domain of teacher-student interaction.