Discouraging Instructional Dissent and Facilitating Students' Learning Experiences Through Instructor Self-Disclosure

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine if instructors’ self-disclosures in the college classroom (i.e., amount, relevance, negativity) influence students’ instructional dissent responses (i.e., expressive, rhetorical, vengeful) and learning outcomes (i.e., cognitive learning, affective learning, motivation). In line with research by Ellis (2004), this study attempted to explain these associations by incorporating students’ receiver apprehension as a mediating variable. Participants were 206 undergraduate students who completed surveys, and results were examined using two path analyses. Results indicated that students’ state receiver apprehension mediated the relationships between instructor self-disclosure with learning outcomes and instructional dissent responses. Specifically, frequent, relevant, but not negative (positive) instructor self-disclosure was related indirectly (mediated by student receiver apprehension) to both student dissent responses and learning outcomes.