Student-Faculty Interaction, Institutional Characteristics, and Students’ Academic Engagement: A Multilevel Approach

• In Event: Deep Learning and Academic Engagement

Abstract

The social dynamics of college are crucial for young adults' academic engagement. By applying multilevel modeling on longitudinal data from three cohorts of Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, this study investigates whether and how student-faculty interaction impacts students' academic engagement, and if the magnitude and direction of this relationship vary by institutional and student characteristics. We find moderate and positive main effects of the quality and frequency of student-faculty interaction, and these effects are moderated by student characteristics such as gender, race/ethnicity, pre-college academic achievement, and major in STEM, but they do not vary by institutional type. Finally, these effects are found to be consistent across the stages of college study. The significance of this study is also discussed.

Authors

• Zebing Wu, University of Iowa

• Weilin Chen, University of Iowa