Engineering students trust teachers who ask, listen, and respond

Abstract

Trust is an important aspect of learning. However, there is little published research on how students perceive its value. In this article, we report on engineering students’ perceptions of the role of trust in their learning and their experiences of what teachers do in their courses that builds trust. Nine students participated in semi-structured interviews and 477 student replies to a survey sent out by the Students’ Association in the same School of Engineering were analysed. We found that showing care and concern is the most important trust-building approach that teachers can use, followed by displaying what we classify as teaching skills. Based on these students’ perceptions, we suggest ways to incorporate explicit reference to trust-building in academic development efforts.