Trust is foundational to effective teaching and learning, influencing student motivation, classroom engagement, and willingness to take risks throughout their learning process. Our work explores how an existing model of trust in higher education applies to the student perspectives, and compares the perspectives of students in various contexts on how university teachers can develop trust in their classrooms. Using existing scholarship on teacher perspectives of trust in higher education (Felten et al., 2023), our work explores the student perspective of the value of the following four interrelated dimensions of trust:
Cognition – Trust grounded in perceived competence, including content expertise and pedagogical skill.
Affect – Trust based on relational factors such as warmth, approachability, and care.
Values – Trust rooted in perceptions of integrity, fairness, honesty, and principled behavior.
Identity – Trust connected to shared identity and/or to the professor’s demonstrated respect for the student’s identity and lived experience.
Jill McSweeney (she/her), Assistant Director, Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, Assistant Professor (Education & Wellness), Elon University
Ted Murcray (he/him), Director, Center for Faculty Development, California Baptist University
Laurel Schut (she/her), Instructor & Academic Advisor, College of Sustainability and Faculty Associate, Centre for Learning and Teaching, Dalhousie University