Assessing social support at the university level: the relationship between a supportive educational environment and student success/satisfaction

Abstract

Social support is a widely studied topic among communication scholars, and one environment in which it deems even more attention is the classroom. In this study, I aim to uncover how prevalent perceived available social support is among university instructors (as perceived by students) as well as factors that affect a student's willingness to seek support from a given instructor. Also, I will uncover whether or not a student's perception (or lack thereof) of available social support from an instructor indicates his or her success in the classroom and/or overall satisfaction with his or her college experience. Moreover, I will explore the relationships among variables such as teacher caring, teacher support, teacher credibility, willingness of students to seek support, students' success in the classroom, and students' satisfaction with their university experience.