A model of student-teacher interactions and learning outcomes in the college classroom : [an honors thesis (HONRS 499)]

Abstract

The intent of this study is to examine the impact of affect, in particular interpersonal complementarity, on learning outcomes in the college classroom. Six teachers (3 males, 2 females) and 122 students (35 males, 87 females) at Ball State University were recruited across disciplines to participate in an online survey of personality and teaching/learning outcomes. Two hypotheses—one, that greater self-reported teacher-student interpersonal complementarity would predict higher teacher evaluation scores and two, that greater self-reported student interpersonal similarity will predict stronger class cohesion--were supported. The third hypothesis, stronger teaching-learning alliances would lead to better learning outcomes and higher estimated student grades, was not supported. Several other predictor variables, including demographics, learning factors, and environmental factors, were included in a stepwise hierarchical regression analyses with GPA being a significant predictor in most results. The implications and limitations of these findings were discussed.