English teaching as perceived by students and its relationship with learning outcomes

Abstract

The quality of teaching activity constitutes a notable pedagogical factor in addressing the contemporary challenges of English teaching in higher education. This study analyzed the relationship between English teaching, as perceived by Ecuadorian university students, and their learning and satisfaction. A quantitative, non-experimental, correlational, and cross-sectional design was used, with data from 7 teachers evaluated through two anonymous online surveys (2,550 valid responses), from which a stratified random sample of 1,200 responses was drawn. Based on items common to both surveys, two scales were constructed: teaching process (6 items) and learning satisfaction (5 items), recoded on a 1-to-5 scale. Reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was .968 and .853, respectively. Since the Shapiro-Wilk test showed a lack of normality (p < .001), Spearman's correlation coefficient was used. The results showed high levels in both variables (teaching process: M = 4.38, SD = 0.94, 80.2% at a high level; learning and satisfaction: M = 4.42, SD = 0.71, 78.8% at a high level), with a positive, high, and significant correlation between them (rho = .721; p < .001). It is concluded that perceived teaching process is positively associated with student learning and satisfaction, although these findings are associative, not causal, and constitute approximations of teaching process creativity rather than a direct, psychometrically validated measurement.