Student-faculty interaction: Mediating between student engagement factors and educational outcome gains. International Journal of Research Studies in Education

Abstract

The concepts of engagement have long been said to bring forth positive outcomes on students’ university schooling. The reports of the National Survey for Student Engagement (NSSE) in the US have opened up various discussions on the benefits of such meaningful activities. On the other hand, the reemergence of the Chinese academies called Shuyuan or residential colleges have been spreading to both the East and West. It is said that the concept of having students living together with their faculty would instill a sense of belongingness that fosters learning. More important, both models of learning have within them the notion of student-faculty interactions. To dwell further on these concepts, the current study shall focus on the analysis of residential college students in Taiwan. A total of 724 students from four key universities that practices the model of residential colleges were surveyed. Structured equation modelling was accomplished resulting in the verification of a model of learning. Results show that student-faculty interaction successfully mediated the effects between the student engagement factors and students’ educational outcome gains. The current results further provided an empirical proof of the importance of quality student and faculty communications and interactions. The current study hopes that the findings will be able to help educational administrators, policy makers, and researchers in designing future curriculum programs that fosters meaningful learning.