"It Deepens Your Desire to Learn": A Qualitative Exploration of Student-Professor Trust in Undergraduate Classes

• In Event: The Role of Institutional Agents and Courses in Student Experiences

Abstract

Relational trust is critical in any learning environment. Decades of research has found that trust is important in K-12 educational contexts, but there is less research that explores trust in higher education. More pointedly, there is a dearth of research that explores the antecedents and outcomes of the trust students place in their professors. The purpose of this study is to explore how students experience student-professor trust and why it matters to them. Using data from 76 interviews with undergraduate students we found several themes related to experiences that built student-professor trust and themes related to the importance of student-professor trust. In this proposal we discuss findings and highlight a few of the themes with our data.

Authors

• Peter Bjorklund, University of California - San Diego
  Presenting Author

• Sushil Shintre, University of California - San Diego
  Non-Presenting Author