Faculty-Student Interaction and its Relationship with Development of Students’ Cognitive Skills

Q: How can I download an article?

To download an article from SID, first log in to the site, search for the article title, and click on the 'Download Article' option.

Q: How can I download an ISI article?

To download an ISI article on SID, enter the keyword or article title in the search bar, view the relevant results, click on the desired article, and select the 'Download Article' option.

Q: How can I access the SID database?

To access the SID database, visit SID.ir, create an account, and log in to access scientific resources.

Q: Is downloading articles from SID free?

Some articles on SID are available for free, while others require payment. Details are specified on the article's page.

Rostami Nasab Halimeh; SOLTANI ASGHAR; FAZILAT POUR MASOUD

Title

Faculty-Student Interaction and its Relationship with Development of Students’ Cognitive Skills

Author(s)

Rostami Nasab Halimeh | SOLTANI ASGHAR | FAZILAT POUR MASOUD | Issue Writer Certificate

Keywords

academic self-challengeQ1

classroom engagementQ1

cognitive skillsQ1

Faculty-student interactionQ1

sense of belongingQ1

Abstract

Introduction Faculty-student interaction is an important factor affecting student’ s academic life. It is in fact a form of academic involvement and a means for the students to socialize integrate in the university environment and could thus affect their development and learning (Chang, 2005; Kim & Sax, 2014). The study shows that efforts to improve student– faculty interaction will benefit all students, and improving these relationships would lead to more outcomes in terms of classroom engagement and cognitive skills (Kim & Lundberg, 2016). The associations between student– faculty interaction and students’ outcomes could be explained based on Astin’ s (1984), Tinto’ s (1997), and Weidman’ s (1989) models for the socialization process of university students. Accordingly, interactions between students and faculty can promote greater levels of academic engagement for students, which in turn leads to larger gains in academic outcomes (Kim & Lundberg, 2016). During the process of socialization, students acquire knowledge and skills that affect them as members of their academic society (Weidman, 1989). The faculty in this process, help students to develop networks that provide access to resources, guide them and introduce them to academic norms and values (Cole & Griffin, 2013). Nevertheless, a review of the literature suggests that no study has examined the associations between Faculty-student interaction, students’ academic self-challenge, sense of belonging, classroom engagement, and their cognitive skills in an Iranian academic context. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study was to explore the relationships between faculty– student interactions and the development of students’ cognitive skills, mediated by classroom engagement, sense of belonging, and academic self-challenge using a structural equation modeling (SEM). Hypotheses The present study aims to examine the mediating roles of students’ academic self-challenge, sense of belonging, and classroom engagement in their cognitive skills development. Accordingly, the following hypotheses were tested: 1. Faculty-student interaction affects students’ cognitive skills. 2. Faculty-student interaction affects students’ classroom engagement. 3. Faculty-student interaction affects students’ academic selfchallenge. 4. Faculty-student interaction affects students’ sense of belonging. 5. academic self-challenge has a mediating effect on the students’ classroom engagement. 6. sense of belonging has a mediating effect on students’ classroom engagement. 7. classroom engagement has a mediating effect on students’ cognitive skills. Methods The study adopted a descriptive correlational design to verify the stated hypotheses. Participants and Procedures Participants were 415 undergraduate students from 10 faculties of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman during the 2017-2018 academic year. The instrument used was a 27-item questionnaire designed by the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (2014) to assess the relationships between faculty– student interaction, the development of cognitive skills, classroom engagement, sense of belonging and academic self-challenge. The instrument reliability was measured through internal consistency method and the Cronbach’ alpha coefficient, estimated to be 0. 89. In addition, the construct validity of the instrument was confirmed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) in Amos Graphics modeling software (version 23) was used for data analysis. Results The findings showed that Faculty-student interaction is a proper predictor for the development of students’ cognitive skills, and their classroom engagement, academic self-challenge and sense of belonging. The results also showed a positive and significant relationship between Faculty-student interaction and the development of the students’ cognitive skills, mediated by classroom engagement. Neverthless, the effect of Faculty-student interactions on classroom engagement, mediated by academic self-challenge and sense of belonging, was not significant. Discussion and Conclusion Previous research revealed that Faculty-student interactions contribute to the development of students’ outcomes (Kim & Sax, 2014; Cox et al. 2010). The current study also suggested that Faculty-student interaction is associated with the students’ cognitive skills. This finding is consistent with those of Kim and Lundberg (2016), Crombie et al. (2003), Gasiewski et al. (2012), Guiffrida et al. (2013), Kim and Sax (2011), Umbach and Wawrzynski (2005), and Kim et al. (2015). The results also suggested a significant association between Faculty-student interaction and the development of students’ cognitive skills, mediated by classroom engagement. This finding is congruent with those of Cole (2007), Kuh and Hu (2001), and Pascarella and Terenzini (2005). One of the main contributions of this study is the finding that in Iranian academic context, Faculty-student interaction, mediated by classroom engagement, could increase the students’ cognitive skills. Accordingly, we recommend future studies to concentrate on the effects of other psychological or sociological elements while exploring the contributions of student– faculty interaction to academic outcomes. Moreover, the issue of Faculty-student interactions could be pursued in future research, considering demographic differences, such as gender, and academic discipline among students. In conclusion, the results shed light on the effects of the student– faculty interaction on students’ academic self-challenge, sense of belonging, classroom engagement, and cognitive skills in an Iranian academic context. These findings have important implications for the role of facultystudent interaction in increasing and development of academic outcomes of students. The findings also have implications for curriculum planners in universities to consider the Faculty-student interaction as a pivotal variable that could affect curriculum elements such as the teachinglearning process and evaluation strategies.

No record.

APA: Copy

Rostami Nasab, Halimeh, SOLTANI, ASGHAR, & FAZILAT POUR, MASOUD. (2020). Faculty-Student Interaction and its Relationship with Development of Students’ Cognitive Skills. STUDIES IN LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION (JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES OF SHIRAZ UNIVERSITY), 11(2 (77-2) ), 1-20. SID. https://sid.ir/paper/375212/en

Vancouver: Copy

Rostami Nasab Halimeh, SOLTANI ASGHAR, FAZILAT POUR MASOUD. Faculty-Student Interaction and its Relationship with Development of Students’ Cognitive Skills. STUDIES IN LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION (JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES OF SHIRAZ UNIVERSITY)[Internet]. 2020;11(2 (77-2) ):1-20. Available from: https://sid.ir/paper/375212/en

IEEE: Copy

Halimeh Rostami Nasab, ASGHAR SOLTANI, and MASOUD FAZILAT POUR, “Faculty-Student Interaction and its Relationship with Development of Students’ Cognitive Skills,” STUDIES IN LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION (JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES OF SHIRAZ UNIVERSITY), vol. 11, no. 2 (77-2) , pp. 1–20, 2020, [Online]. Available: https://sid.ir/paper/375212/en

Scientific Information Database

ISSN: 2588-4824

Journal Paper

Faculty-Student Interaction and its Relationship with Development of Students’ Cognitive Skills