Students' Perceived Understanding Mediates the Effects of Teacher Clarity and Nonverbal Immediacy on Learner Empowerment

Abstract

This study examined students' perceived understanding as a mediator of the relationship between student perceptions of teacher clarity, nonverbal immediacy cues, and learner empowerment (i.e., meaningfulness, competence, and impact). Participants included 261 undergraduate students who completed survey instruments. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that students' perceptions of teacher clarity and nonverbal immediacy enhanced students' perceived understanding, which in turn positively predicted all three dimensions of learner empowerment. Bootstrapping analyses revealed significant indirect effects for student perceptions of teacher clarity and immediacy on the impact and competence dimensions of learner empowerment. Collectively, the results highlight perceived understanding as a key theoretical mechanism that further explains the associations among student perceptions of instructors' communication behaviors and learner empowerment.