A study of student perceptions of physics teacher behavior

Abstract

This study investigates student perceptions of the behavior of physics teachers in relation to some other variables in the classroom situation. The research was carried out as a Dutch option of the Second International Science Study. Data were gathered in 65 classrooms of physics teachers with pupils 15 years old. Some of the teachers (21) used the new PLON curriculum and the others a traditional one. Student perceptions of teacher behavior were measured with a questionnaire based on the interpersonal theory of Leary (1957). The aspect of behavior measured is called interactional teacher behavior. We found remarkably high correlations between student perceptions of teacher behavior and affective outcomes such as appreciation of the lessons and motivation for the subject matter. Also, the correlations with cognitive outcomes measured with a standardized international test were significant. It appears that some differences exist between teacher behaviors that are favorable for high cognitive outcomes and behaviors favorable for high affective outcomes in physics lessons. Hardly any differences were found in teacher behavior between teachers using the traditional and the new physics curriculum.

Interpersonal Teacher Behaviour and Student Outcomes

“…Generally, effects of Proximity are somewhat stronger than effects of Influence. In a study with Physics teachers and their students, Brekelmans et al (1990) found a clear relationship between Proximity and student motivation for Physics. The higher the perception of Proximity, the higher the motivation of the students.…”

“…In the study by Brekelmans et al (1990) for example, student perceptions of teacher Influence were related to cognitive outcomes. The higher a teacher was perceived on the Influence dimension, the higher the outcomes of students were on a Physics test.…”

“…First, with the exception of the Brekelmans et al (1990) study, none of the studies employed multilevel analysis techniques. Instead, one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA), multivariate analyses of variance or correlations were used to investigate associations.…”

“…In the present study, the effectiveness of secondary school teachers' behaviour is investigated by analysing data from two separate research efforts: a study on 45 Physics teachers and their 3rd-year classes (Brekelmans, Wubbels, & Creton, 1990) and a study on 32 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and their 3rd-year classes (Den Brok, 2001). Both datasets used include cognitive as well as affective (subject-specific motivation) student outcomes.…”

Cultural influences on students’ perceptions of videotaped lessons

“…Correspondingly, high proximity scores relate positively to affective outcomes (e.g. attitudes) (Brekelmans, Wubbels, & Creton, 1990;Brekelmans, van den Eeden, Terwel, & Wubbels, 1997;den Brok, 2001). …”