Linking teaching quality to student engagement: Student–faculty interaction as a mediator

This study examined the relationships among teaching quality, student–faculty interaction, and student engagement within the context of Chinese higher education. I focused on the role of student–faculty interaction as a mediator in the relationship between teaching quality and student engagement. The sample consisted of 265 students at one Chinese university, who completed self-administered, paper-based questionnaires. A model linking teaching quality with student–faculty interaction and student engagement was created and the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. I found that teaching quality was positively related to both student–faculty interaction and student engagement. Moreover, student–faculty interaction played a mediating role between teaching quality and student engagement. These results illuminate the mechanism behind the link between teaching quality and student engagement.