Students' Image of Teachers as Related to Perceived Teaching Effectiveness

Abstract

students, the pupils of six student-teachers in classes meeting at the 10 o'clock hour. A teacher-rating scale was also employed to assess students' impressions of the student-teachers' effectiveness. A stepwise mulciple regression analysis was used to test the multivariate relationship between teachers' effectiveness and the three predictor variables. Interpersonal attraction was associated with 42% of the variance in students' evaluations of student-teachers' effectiveness. Although attaining statistical significance, credibility and similarity contributed relatively little to the step-wise model, predicting 5% and 2% of the variance, respectively. The three communication-related variables explained a total variance of 49% in predicting student-teachers' effectiveness as viewed by students. Such results provide confirmation of the importance of communication variables in impression formation. Interpersonal atuacrion, credibility, and similarity apparently operate as subliminal cues in the teacher-evaluation process. Since studies indicate that noncontent stimuli such as these can be manipulated or controlled in any encounter, the findings could be used in teacher-training programs. Data also support continuing research to clarify the exact communication variables in students' perceptions of teachers' effectiveness.