The Importance of Feeling Cared for: Does a Student’s Perception of How Much a Professor Cares About Student Success Relate to Class Performance?

Research indicates that there are many key things a professor may do to contribute to the success of a college student. Teaching style, instructor enthusiasm for the subject, and knowledge of a professor all have impacts on the kind of experience a student has in the classroom. There is a strong body of research to pull from indicating effort on an instructor’s part to create a meaningful learning experience through classroom organization, encouraging active learning practices, and offering meaningful feedback are also contributing factors to student success. There has been a great amount of research dedicated to examining in- and out-of-class relationships between students and professors, and it is evident all of these things make a difference in the effort put into coursework, learning outcomes achieved, and success levels of students. This research attempts to further the existing body of research on student–faculty relationships by exploring the element of feeling cared for in a classroom. This research seeks to find a connection between a student’s perceptions of how much a professor cares about his or her success in a course and/or cares about that student in general and whether that perception relates to student effort and learning outcomes in a course.