Perceiving Empathy: When Undergraduates Feel Understood

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 12:40 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Approaches to Motivation Research (Table 31)

Abstract

Teacher empathy has been shown to predict adaptive student outcomes in higher education. However, students and teacher have been shown to perceive teacher empathy very differently, and very few studies have explored student perceptions of teacher empathy, even fewer through qualitative inquiry. This study applied thematic analysis to students’ open-ended responses to questions pertaining to their perceptions of teacher cognitive and affective empathy. Results suggest many types of teacher actions can be perceived as empathetic. Further, final categories show support for the three-core-action structure of effective teacher empathy. Finally, the effect of perceived affective empathy on student effort may be context dependent. Implications include a broader view of teacher empathy and the importance of flexibility and timely communication to students.

Author

• Jeff Vomund, University of Tennessee, Knoxville