Available online 1 May 2024, 100224

Author links open overlay panel, , , , , AbstractBackground

: Prior research has documented the pervasive influence that peers can exert on adolescents’ lives. However, knowledge on whether adolescents’ perceptions of the quality of the teacher's instruction are also prone to peer influences is lacking.

Method

: This study (N = 248 German adolescents) used longitudinal social network analysis to investigate whether (a) friends become more similar in their teaching quality perceptions (influence effects) and/or whether (b) students with initially more similar perceptions of teaching quality were more likely to become friends (selection effects). We also explored whether (c) students with more positive teaching quality perceptions were better integrated socially.

Results

: We did not find support for influence or selection effects. However, students who rated their teacher's instruction more positively were better integrated socially.

Conclusions

: Our work adds to research on the role of peers in adolescence and enhances our understanding of peer influences on students’ perceptions of instruction.

Section snippetsThe Present Study

This study addressed three research questions (see Figure 1). First, do friends become more similar in their teaching quality perceptions over time (influence effects, Research Q)? Based on theory and prior research on other educationally relevant variables (e.g., achievement), we hypothesized to find evidence for influence effects. Second, do students with initially more similar perceptions of teaching quality are more likely to become friends over time (selection effects, Research Question 1

Sample

This study analyzed data from a large-scale longitudinal German study (TRAIN) with four measurement points, which is hosted by the Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology at the University of Tübingen in Germany. The TRAIN study was conducted with students from two federal states, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony. However, as social network data was only collected in Saxony, we restricted our analyses to students from Saxony. We only included classes with homeroom teachers

Results

Table 1 displays descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations. Table 2 shows the results of the longitudinal social network analysis. Part 1 focuses on social influence processes, and part 2 on social selection processes. Both part 1 and part 2 come from the same model. Estimates should be interpreted as similar to conditional log odds ratios in logistic regression models.

In the influence part (part 1), friends’ average level of teaching quality perceptions did not significantly influence

Discussion

The study of peer relations, and specifically, peer influence and selection effects, can notably enhance current understandings of the social nature of teaching quality perceptions and the role of peers as factors shaping students’ perceptions of the teacher. Here, we report, to the best of our knowledge, the first social network study on students’ perceptions of teaching quality. We focused on students’ perceptions of teacher academic and social support in mathematics and the unfolding of

Uncited References

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CRediT authorship contribution statement

Lisa Bardach: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Conceptualization. Zsofia Boda: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Claudia Neuendorf: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Wolfgang Wagner: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Kyle Davison: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Ulrich Trautwein: Writing – review & editing, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization.

Declaration of competing interest

None

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the German research foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG, grant number: BA 7386/1-1) awarded to Lisa Bardach. Lisa Bardach is supported by a Jacobs Foundation Research Fellowship and a Fellowship from the Elite-Program for Post-docs of the Baden-Württemberg Foundation. This work was also supported by an Emerging Field Group Grant (European Association of Research on Learning and Instruction and the Jacobs Foundation) awarded to Lisa Bardach.

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