Exploring the Impact of Professional Identity and Teaching Behaviors on Skill Development: The Mediating Role of Surface and Deep Learning

This study aims to explore how professional identity and teachers’ instructional behaviors influence students’ skill development through their employment of deep and surface learning strategies. Through the analysis of 8931 survey responses, the research found significant positive correlations between professional identity, teaching behaviors, and both deep and surface learning strategies among students. Both deep and surface learning were found to have positive effects on skill development, while they were identified as mediating factors in the relationship between professional identity, teaching behaviors, and students’ skill development. This finding provides profound insights for educational practice, emphasizing the importance of focusing on and supporting students’ selection and application of learning strategies in facilitating students’ skill development process.