43 3 into the effect of students’ bias on their learning. It could be that even if high student teaching quality ratings are biased, the bias could work favourably on students’ learning and engagement. Research on the factors associated with differences in student perceptions of teaching quality so far is limited, in our opinion, as these studies have usually included one or two aspects of teaching (e.g., teachers’ interpersonal behaviour) instead of measuring the associations of a variety of factors with differences in perceived teaching quality as a whole (Dart et al., 1999; Pianta & Nimetz, 1989; Waxman & Huang, 1998). What makes this study unique is thus that it measures teaching quality more comprehensively than previous studies that focused more on specif ic features of the learning environment. The same applies to the study of potentially confounding factors. In the educational sciences, these variables had so far been studied only to a limited extent. Moreover, in this study student perceptions were collected in a digital way, which is quite new. This study thereby helps advance our thinking about the applicability of studying teaching quality by means of student perceptions in these three ways. In this study, characteristics at the student, the teacher, and classroom levels were investigated that are potentially associated with differences in student ratings of teaching quality as measured by means of a digital feedback tool. The results will also be discussed considering the applicability of the f indings beyond this tool. The following research question is answered: What factors are related to differences in student perceptions of teaching quality as measured by means of a digital feedback tool? 3.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK In this theoretical framework, an explanation for differences in perceptions of teaching quality between students is given, based on the PERSON (personality, error, residual, stereotype, opinion, and norm) model developed by Kenny (1994, 2004) and Kenny et al. (1994). Then, factors potentially associated with differences in student perceptions of teaching quality are discussed. A precondition for investigating variables that are related to different perceptions of teaching quality is agreeing upon a def inition of teaching quality. Complicating this matter is that teaching quality can be def ined in a number of different ways (Balch, 2012). These can include teacher qualif ications, teacher content knowledge, or actual teaching behaviours and added value generated by teachers (Balch, 2012; Roche & Marsh, 2000). Based on an extensive literature review and a review of student perception questionnaires (see also chapters 1 and 2 of this dissertation), in this study, teaching quality is def ined in terms of seven
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