Student engagement: Defining teacher effectiveness and teacher engagement

Abstract

Teacher quality defines student quality. This study hypothesized that student engagement is among the major defining outcomes of teacher effectiveness and teacher engagement. This was verified in three higher educational institutions (HEIs) in a city of Southern Philippines. Concurrent mixed method research design was used where modified survey questionnaires as the main sources ofquantitative data while key informant interview, focus group discussions and observations were used for triangulation. Ninety eight (98) teachers from three HEIs were purposively chosen and were assessed by a combined total of 2,238 students. Descriptive statistics, correlations and multiple linear regressionswere used and complemented with qualitative data. Teacher effectiveness was found to be a significant predictor of student engagement with teacher engagement trailing far behind. This study hopes to contribute to the scanty researches in the Philippines that focused on the role of teachers as designers of learning environment to support student engagement.