Instructor and Student Perceptions of Teacher Empathy in Higher Education

Empathy is recognized as the ability to relate emotionally to an experience or another person's emotions. Evidence supports the notion that students learn better and have greater positive perceptions when instructors display empathetic values and seek more meaningful relationships with their st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:College teaching 2023-01, Vol.71 (1), p.28-37
Main Authors: Ross, Jenifer, Hicks-Roof, Kristen, Cosby, Meghan, Arikawa, Andrea
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
College Faculty
College Students
Empathy
Enrollment
Enrollments
Focus groups
Higher education
Instructor empathy
Motivation
Perceptions
Polls & surveys
Public Colleges
Questionnaires
Self evaluation
Student Attitudes
student motivation
Student teacher relationship
Students
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Characteristics
Teacher Student Relationship
Teaching methods
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Summary:Empathy is recognized as the ability to relate emotionally to an experience or another person's emotions. Evidence supports the notion that students learn better and have greater positive perceptions when instructors display empathetic values and seek more meaningful relationships with their students. The purpose of this study was to assess instructor self-reported empathy and students' perceptions of instructor empathy, using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) and a newly developed Instructor Empathy Practices questionnaire (IEP7), among a convenience sample from a public university. This convergent mixed-methods study consisted of a cross-sectional survey sent to both students and instructors and focus groups conducted with students. A total of 168 students and 68 faculty members completed the survey and 19 students participated in the focus groups. Contextual factors such as race (p = 0.036), classification (p = 0.003) and GPA (p = 0.028) played significant roles in student empathy scores. Among instructors, only total student enrollment (p = 0.028) had an association with teacher empathy. Focus groups revealed themes related to recognizing empathy including understanding its definition, instructional techniques, perception in relation to class motivation, and importance. This study was the first to employ a convergent study design to assess and better characterize empathy from both instructors' and students' perspectives.
ISSN:8756-7555
1930-8299
DOI:10.1080/87567555.2022.2049673