Perceived Transformational Teacher Leadership and Students’ Motivation, Academic Performance, and Intent to Persist in STEM Education at a Community College

Abstract

The transformational teacher leadership style has been identified as having a positive impact on student motivation, academic performance, and persistence. This study served to determine if there is a relationship between perceived transformational teacher leadership and student motivation, academic performance, and STEM persistence intentions for students in transferable general education biological science courses offered at community colleges. This quantitative research study was conducted in two phases at one campus of a large, multi-campus community college in a major urban area in a Mid-Atlantic state. In the initial phase, the researcher administered the survey to students who volunteered to participate in the study. The students who participated were enrolled in a transferable general education biological science course at the study location during the final four weeks of the semester. In the first phase, a survey containing 34 statements from the MLQ 5X-short, the MSLQ, and demographic information was administered to 178 students enrolled in transferable general education biological science courses. In the second phase, data on the student’s final numerical course grade was collected from the instructor. A regression analysis was conducted to determine if such a relationship exists. The study did not find a statistical relationship between perceived transformational teacher leadership and academic success or intent to persist in STEM coursework. The study, however, did find a relationship between perceived transformational teacher leadership and student motivation. This study has provided additional insight as to what factors influence students in a biological community college classroom. While this study may not be generalizable to all academic subjects or student populations, it does serve to offer researchers additional knowledge in an effort to further support and retain students in higher education settings