Job satisfaction and teacher–student relationships across the teaching career: Four case studies

We studied the development of teacher–student relationships and teachers' job satisfaction throughout the careers of four veteran teachers who retained high job satisfaction. Teacher data gathered with the narrative-biographical method were compared with students' perceptions of the teacher–student relationships, using the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction. Teachers' job satisfaction appeared positively related to the self-reported quality of the teacher–student relationships. Positive retrospective teacher perceptions did not always coincide with positive student perceptions. It appeared that teachers may have positive job satisfaction despite, in the eyes of the students, a poor teacher–student relationship.     

Customer experience and value: A performance view

Companies often say they are customer focused, which presumably means that their operational processes and cultural practices are aligned to maximize the value delivered to customers, but how do you assure that? Two factors that contribute to customer perceptions of the quality of product or service are functional quality, how well a product or service meets customer needs, and behavioral quality, how the customer feels about using or owning the product or service. There are also functional and behavioral factors that contribute to customers' perceptions of costs. Considering these factors we have developed a performance model to aid in the pursuit of greater customer value.     

Correlates of School Satisfaction Among Adolescents

Abstract

Interrelationships among life experiences, academic self-efficacy, and school satisfaction reports from a sample of 92 adolescents in a private secondary school were investigated. Results revealed that life experiences, both positive and negative, were significantly associated with school satisfaction reports. Students' perceptions of their academic self-efficacy did not moderate the relationship between life events and school satisfaction; however, self-efficacy perceptions did contribute significant variance in a linear fashion beyond life experiences. The authors concluded that both a wide array of negative and positive environmental experiences and individual difference variables need to be considered to understand adolescents' reactions to schooling and to design prevention and intervention programs.     

The association of school environment to student teachers' satisfaction and teaching commitment

A supportive school environment is crucial to the enhancement of student teaching experiences. This study assesses student teachers' perceptions of secondary school environments, and then relates the perceptions to their satisfaction with school experiences and teaching commitment. The results show that considerable disparities between student teachers' perceptions of actual and preferred school environments and suggest certain directions for improvement. Student teachers' perceptions about their school environments, especially in the areas of professional interest and staff freedom, were positively associated with their satisfaction. Several school environmental aspects influenced the total years they planned to teach and their intention to teach at the placement schools.     

A Study of Disciplinary, Structural, and Behavioral Effects on Course Outcomes in Online MBA Courses

This article reports the results of a 2‐year study examining the effects of subject matter, course structure, and participant behaviors on students' perceived learning and satisfaction with delivery medium in Web‐based courses of an MBA program in the midwestern United States. Using finance as the referent discipline, we found statistically significant differences in the mean course outcomes (students' perceived learning and satisfaction with delivery medium) associated with 13 business disciplines. Although most of these disciplinary differences ceased to be significant predictors of student perceived learning as structural and behavioral characteristics were incorporated into the model, these differences remained significant predictors of perceived delivery medium satisfaction. We also found that some structural and behavioral characteristics were significant predictors of course outcomes, but in opposite directions. For instance, media variety was a positive predictor of delivery medium satisfaction but a negative predictor of perceived learning, while learner–learner interaction positively predicted perceived learning but negatively predicted delivery medium satisfaction. These findings suggest that instructors of online graduate courses must manage trade‐offs in balancing students' learning with their perceptions of the internet as a course delivery medium.     

The Influence of Supervisor Temperament on Subordinate Job Satisfaction and Perceptions of Supervisor Sociocommunicative Orientation and Approachability

The goal of this study was to re-examine McCroskey, Valencic, and Richmond's findings about the impact of a teacher's temperament on her or his students by examining the findings in a different context, the supervisor-subordinate relationship in organizational settings. This study measured a supervisor's temperament to see if it affected a subordinate's job satisfaction, motivation, and perceptions of supervisor credibility, sociocommunicative style, and approachability. Results indicated a positive relationship between supervisor psychoticism and subordinate job satisfaction and motivation, while supervisor extraversion and neuroticism negatively related to subordinate job satisfaction and motivation. Furthermore, results indicated a positive relationship between supervisor extraversion and subordinate perceptions of supervisor responsiveness, and a negative relationship between supervisor neuroticism and psychoticism and subordinate perceptions of supervisor responsiveness. Overall, a supervisor's temperament was shown to affect subordinate perceptions of supervisor communicative behavior.     

The Conversational Geography of Word-of-Mouth Communication and Marketing Practices

This study was a test of the utility of a diary-based methodology for revealing how word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing agents perceive their campaign and non-campaign-related WOM communication episodes. A modified version of the Iowa Communication Record, originally designed for presenting the “geography of everyday conversation,” was the base for the collection of 2,088 self-reports of the agents' WOM episodes. Data were subjected to a principal components factor analysis. The resulting factors—communication quality, value, impact, relational change, and conversational control—served to gauge differences attributable to the institutional nature of the WOM, sex of respondent and conversational partner, relationship type, and day of week.     

Students' perceptions of Wiki-based collaborative writing for learners of English as a foreign language

This study proposes a Wiki-based collaborative writing approach to the writing process for EFL (English as a foreign language) learners. A five-stage computer-mediated collaborative writing project including collaborative planning, partitioned drafting, peer-revising, peer-editing, and individual publishing was blended with on-campus English composition course. Fifty-one L2 learners at a university in central Taiwan participated in this project. Procedural scaffolding and collective scaffolding were provided to promote students' self-regulation and thus to foster the development of students' writing skills. A cross-referencing questionnaire survey was adopted to investigate students' perceptions of Wiki-based collaborative writing and students' perceptions of their work in each stage of collaborative writing. As the results indicated, a high percentage of students' satisfaction showed positive perceptions of this Wiki-based collaborative writing environment, and the instructional design of implementing a Wiki-based collaborative writing project with a five-stage writing process does assist EFL learners to accomplish a collaborative writing task on the internet with less limitation of time. This article also points to new possibilities for future research.     

University Student Satisfaction: An Empirical Analysis

The purpose of this research is to gain an empirical understanding of students' overall satisfaction with their academic university experiences. A hierarchal model is used as a framework for this analysis. Fifteen hypotheses are formulated and tested, in order to identify the dimensions of service quality as perceived by university students, to examine students' overall satisfaction with influential factors such as tuition fees (price) and university image, and to determine the impact of students' overall satisfaction on favourable future behavioural intentions. Students' perceptions of these constructs are compared using demographic factors such as gender, age, and ethnicity.

Statistical support is found for the use of a hierarchical model, three primary dimensions, and ten sub-dimensions. In addition, the results support a relationship between service quality and price; service quality, image, and satisfaction; and satisfaction and favourable future behavioual intentions. However, there is no statistical support for a relationship between price and satisfaction. The results also suggest that students' perceptions of the constructs are primarily influenced by their ethnicity and year of study.

The results of this analysis contribute to the service marketing theory by providing empirically–based insight into satisfaction and service quality constructs in the higher education sector. This study will assist higher education management developing and implementing a market-oriented service strategy, in order to achieve a high quality of service, enhance students' level of satisfaction and create favourable future behavioural intentions. ¹ 1. Missing At Random (MAR) is a condition which exists when missing values are not randomly distributed across all observations but are randomly distributed within one or more sub-samples. View all notes     

The impact of individual differences on e‐learning system satisfaction: A contingency approach

This study investigated the impact of contingent variables on the relationship between four predictors and students' satisfaction with e‐learning. Five hundred and twenty‐two university students from 10 intact classes engaging in online instruction were asked to answer questionnaires about their learning styles, perceptions of the quality of the proposed predictors and satisfaction with e‐learning systems. The results of analysis of variance and structural equation modelling analyses showed that two contingent variables, gender and job status, significantly influenced the perceptions of predictors and students' satisfaction with the e‐learning system. This study also found a statistically significant moderating effect of two contingent variables, student job status and learning styles, on the relationship between predictors and e‐learning system satisfaction. The results suggest that a serious consideration of contingent variables is crucial for improving e‐learning system satisfaction. The implications of these results for the management of e‐learning systems are discussed.     

When empathy hurts: Modelling university students’ word of mouth behaviour in public vs. private universities in Syria

This study examines and compares word of mouth (WOM) behaviour among university students in Syria. To date, little is known about this important phenomenon which is surprising given the deregulated education market in Syria that allows for private universities to compete for students alongside public universities. Using a mixed methods research design and structural equation modelling, our results show faculty individualised attention and student satisfaction were found to be positively related to university image. Further, student satisfaction and university image were found to be direct sources of students’ positive WOM behaviour. We found a moderating effect of university ownership type on university image. Interestingly, we identified six themes showing how support staff empathy could be seen as a source of low student satisfaction. These were defined as deception/credibility/soft‐soapers/suspiciousness: when support staff coax something out of students; confusion/role conflict: resulting from the diverse roles played by support staff while interacting with students; unfairness: when a student notices discrimination in the level of empathy between their peers; privacy: when support staff empathy can be perceived as a kind of intrusion; self‐congratulatory: when a support staff member shows off or praises their empathy; and support staff/student ratio: when this ratio is seen to be small, the empathy effect reverses.     

Effects of Supervisor Social Influence,Nonverbal Immediacy,and Biological Sex on Subordinates' Perceptions of Job Satisfaction,Liking, and Supervisor Credibility

This study investigated the impact of supervisor biological sex, power use, and nonverbal immediacy on subordinates' satisfaction, liking for the supervisor, and perceptions of the supervisors' credibility. After viewing video scenarios of male and female supervisors engaging in nonverbally immediate (or nonimmediate) and prosocial (or antisocial) power use, subordinates reported perceptions of satisfaction, affect, and credibility. Results of the 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design indicated significant main effects for supervisor prosocial power and nonverbal immediacy. Although there were interaction effects, the variance accounted for was minimal. Supervisor prosocial power use and nonverbal immediacy were positively and significantly related to subordinates' self-reported satisfaction, liking for the supervisor, and work enjoyment. Supervisor biological sex did not show a relationship to any of the criterion variables. This study demonstrates that supervisors should maintain nonverbal immediacy and frame prosocial-type messages to preserve their credibility in the workplace.     

Positive and Negative Self‐Perceptions: Is There a Cyclical Relationship Between Teachers' and Students' Perceptions of Effort,Strategy Use,and Academic Performance?

This study was part of a larger research program designed to investigate how effort interacts with strategy use to mediate the academic performance of successful students with learning disabilities (LD) and how teachers' and students' perceptions influence these relationships. The sample consisted of 46 students with LD and 46 matched students without LD and their seven teachers from Grades 6–8. A self‐report survey was used to obtain an index of students' perceptions of their effort, strategy use, academic struggles, and academic competence. Our findings indicated that students with LD with positive academic self‐perceptions were more likely to work hard and to use strategies in their schoolwork than were students with LD who had negative academic self‐perceptions. Teachers viewed students with LD who had positive academic self‐perceptions as working equally hard and attaining similar levels of academic competence as their peers without LD. In marked contrast, students with LD who had negative academic self‐perceptions were judged by their teachers as making limited effort in school and achieving at a below‐average level in comparison with their peers. Findings suggested a cyclical relationship between students' self‐perceptions and their teachers' judgments and supported the notion of a reciprocal strategy‐effort interaction.     

Learning environment,motivation, and achievement in high school science

In a study of the relationship between high school students' perceptions of their science learning environments and their motivation, learning strategies, and achievement, 377 students in 22 introductory science classrooms completed surveys in the fall and spring of their ninth‐grade year. Hierarchical linear regression was used to model the effects of variables at both the classroom and individual level simultaneously. High intraclass agreement (indicated by high parameter reliability) on all classroom environment measures indicated that students shared perceptions of the classroom learning environment. Controlling for other factors, shared perceptions that only the most able could succeed in science classrooms and that instruction was fast‐paced and focused on correct answers negatively predicted science achievement, as measured on a districtwide curriculum‐linked test. Shared perceptions that classrooms focused on understanding and independent thinking positively predicted students' self‐reported satisfaction with learning. Implications of these results for both teaching and research into classroom environments are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 347–368, 2003     

An exploratory study of subordinates' perceptions of supervisory politics

This study was designed to explore the relationships between subordinates' perceptions of their supervisors' involvement in organizational politics and subordinates' perceptions of supervisory work facilitation, satisfaction with supervision, and openness in superior‐subordinate communication. Results suggest that subordinates who perceive their supervisors as highly involved in politics are less open in communication and less satisfied with their supervisors than subordinates who perceive their supervisors as moderately or minimally involved in politics.     

Achievement Curves and their Trend through the Year

Abstract

A quasi-experimental design appropriate for use in field settings such as schools, cross-lagged panel correlation analysis, is illustrated. A sample of 51 fourth graders’ perceptions of the quality of their school life, including satisfaction with school, commitment to their classwork, and attitudes toward teachers, was assessed at the beginning and end of the school year, as were beliefs concerning responsibility for successful, unsuccessful, and overall academic achievements. Results of the Fisher combined test of the consistency of the effects of these exploratory analyses provide tentative support for the view that perceptions of these aspects of quality of school life temporally preceded perceptions of academic responsibility. It is suggested that the more favorably these classroom factors are perceived, the more likely students are to accept responsibility for their school successes and failures.     

Communication Conflict Styles,Perception of Ethical Environment,and Job Satisfaction Among College and University Counselors

This quantitative study examined the perceptions of college and university counselors (N = 669) regarding their ethical environment, job satisfaction, and ways of dealing with organizational conflict. Findings indicated that counselors manifested an average, but not positive, perception of their ethical environment. Job satisfaction was highest among counselors employed at small institutions. While variable, communication conflict styles indicated possible power struggles occurring within counseling centers. Implications for campus‐based counseling centers are discussed.     

Increasing patient satisfaction and compliance: An examination of physician humor orientation,compliance‐gaining strategies,and perceived credibility

This study examined the impact that patients' perceptions of a physician's humor orientation, credibility, and compliance‐gaining strategies had on their satisfaction and compliance. Perceived physician humor orientation positively related to perceived physician credibility, physician compliance‐gaining strategies, and patient satisfaction. Other positive relationships among perceived physician credibility, physician compliance gaining strategies, and patient satisfaction emerged. Compliance did relate significantly to physician humor orientation and perceived credibility. Aspects of patient satisfaction and physician use of compliance‐gaining strategies affected compliance. Additionally, this study revealed minimal differences among data collection methods (undergraduate (N = 44), graduate (N = 48), general public (N = 66), and online participation (N = 26)).     

Online support service quality,online learning acceptance,and student satisfaction

This paper examines potential differences between Korean and American students in terms of their perception levels regarding online education support service quality, online learning acceptance, and satisfaction. Eight hundred and seventy-two samples, which were collected from students in online classes in the United States and Korea, were analyzed using factor analysis, structural equation model techniques, independent sample t-test, and logistic regression. The following results were obtained from this analysis: 1) There were significant differences between the perceptions of Korean and US students with regard to online education support service quality. In this context, Korean students held a significantly higher perception of online support service quality. 2) Perception of online support service quality was a significant predictor of online learning acceptance and satisfaction for both Korean and American students. It appears that a majority of the students in the two countries, irrespective of the differences in their perceptions of online support service quality, believe that the acceptance of online classes would benefit them.     

Assessments of Student–Teacher Relationships in Residential Treatment Center Schools

Students in residential treatment center (RTC) schools are likely to have histories of extreme or ongoing relational trauma (e.g., abuse and neglect by primary caregivers), have substantial interpersonal and relationship problems, and exhibit many high-risk behaviors. Accordingly, these students may have particular difficulty forming positive relationships with teachers, yet student–teacher relationship quality in RTC schools has not been empirically studied. This study examines links between RTC school students' assessments of their relationships with teachers and their perceptions of self and others. Participants were 113 students in 2 RTC schools from 5th to 12th grade. Results indicate that male and female RTC students' positive perceptions (of self and others) are linked to positive assessments of their relationships with teachers. However, for girls in RTC schools, negative perceptions of self are linked to less positive assessments of the teacher–student relationship. Implications are discussed.