Perceptions Of Instructor Credibility Research Articles

Do emojis really help us to communicate better? Investigating instructor credibility, students’ learning motivation, and performance

AbstractExtensive research has been conducted to investigate the role of emojis in interpretation, impression, perceptions, personality and relationship building. However, in the higher education sector, few studies have examined how emojis influence the learning motivation and performance of students. Using the theories of source credibility and stimulus organism response, a model was created to explain how the emojis used in text-based electronic-mediated communication (TEMC) impact instructor credibility, learning motivation, and learning performance. Data obtained from students (N = 348) indicates that the use of emojis in TEMC affects their perceptions of instructor credibility (expertise, trustworthiness, likability) and learning motivation. Furthermore, perceived instructor credibility was found to mediate the relationship between the use of emojis in TEMC and students’ learning motivation. Finally, the study also demonstrates that students’ learning motivation significantly enhances their learning performance. The research findings illustrate the importance of emoji use in TEMC between instructors and students in enhancing students’ learning motivation and performance at higher education institutions (HEIs). The findings have significance for instructors and HEIs who engage in TEMC with students. This paper also discusses the implications and limitations of the study, along with potential future research.

A little 😀 goes a long way: examining the limits of immediacy cues on students’ perceptions of instructor credibility, immediacy, liking, and clarity

ABSTRACT This paper examines how textisms, defined as cues that facilitate interaction in text-dominant communication (e.g., emojis), as a type of immediacy cue, may increase perceived immediacy in instructor–student mediated out-of-class communication (e.g., a welcome email). Using an experiment manipulating cue number and placement and instructor gender, we examined how emojis impacted participants’ (N = 443) impressions of instructors’ closeness, credibility, liking, and clarity. Results suggest that using emojis in instructor–student communication is best done sparingly and strategically, but if done this way, emojis can be potentially useful. These findings have implications for current instructors; limitations and future directions are also discussed.

The Impact of Gender, Nativeness, and Subject Matter on the English as a Second Language University Students' Perception of Instructor Credibility and Engagement: A Qualitative Study.

In instructional contexts, instructor credibility or ethos is deemed to play a paramount role in teacher–student interaction and relationships. Much effort has been devoted to instructor credibility conceptualization, measurement, and its association with other instructional variables of interest in dominantly quantitative inquiries. However, little research has been undertaken in second-language education in which communication is both a means and an end. This qualitative research set out to explore the perception of the students of instructor credibility in the context of higher English education and how gender, nativeness, and subject matter might impact their perceptions. It also aimed to study how instructor credibility could, in turn, influence the engagement and success of the students. Thirteen senior students of English as a foreign language from a university in Iran participated in this study. They were given a scenario about their prospective professors for two courses of “Research Methodology” and “Essay Writing.” The professors included four native English- and Persian-speaking male and female PhD holders. The participants were, then, interviewed about their perceptions of instructor credibility, their choices of instructors, and how they would affect their engagement. The data were recorded, transcribed, and recursively analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis. While instructor credibility is commonly characterized as a three-dimensional construct, involving competence, character, and caring, the data analysis generated a new component of performance concerned with the effectiveness of classroom knowledge presentation and activity organization. Caring also emerged as a constituent of a more inclusive component of rapport. Interestingly, albeit they viewed native English professors as generally more competent due to their nativeness, they perceived non-native professors as more credible for both courses, mainly because of their rapport building and familiarity with the needs and challenges of the students. Most of the participants also viewed male professors as more competent and communicative for both courses. The participants also tended to argue that perceived instructor credibility would encourage them to put in more effort in their academic undertakings and to engage in class activities. This would ultimately enhance their academic achievements and success. The paper discusses the findings and implications for second-language instructor credibility conceptualization and practice.

Transformational Instructor‐Leadership in Higher Education Teaching: A Meta‐Analytic Review and Research Agenda

Researchers have shown that transformational leadership is applicable to higher education teaching, that is, transformational instructor‐leadership. However, such research is fractionated across diverse fields. To address the fractionated literature, the purpose of the current study was to conduct a meta‐analytic review of transformational instructor‐leadership and to analyze research in which such leadership has been empirically associated with student outcomes. For the meta‐analysis, the Hunter–Schmidt approach was adopted, and thus, correlations were corrected for attenuation due to measurement error. The findings indicated that transformational instructor‐leadership was positively associated with students’ motivation, satisfaction, perceptions of instructor credibility, academic performance, affective learning, and cognitive learning. Moderator analyses revealed that culture, course delivery, instrument, and gender were all significant moderators of the relationship between transformational instructor‐leadership and specific student outcomes. The findings also showed that there were significant differences between the transformational leadership dimensions, thus supporting the notion that each dimension is conceptually distinct. The present meta‐analysis drew from varied disciplines in contributing the first integrative review on transformational instructor‐leadership. Future research needs to extend the literature with regard to context sensitivity, common method variance, causal conclusions, mechanisms, outcome measures, and control variables. Practically, higher education institutions should consider training transformational instructor‐leaders.

The Effect of Face Threat Mitigation on Instructor Credibility and Student Motivation in the Absence of Instructor Nonverbal Immediacy

Instructor nonverbal immediacy has been associated with a range of positive student outcomes, but it is difficult to convey in an online environment. We investigated whether the text-based variable of face threat mitigation (FTM) alone—without the visual cues of nonverbally immediate behaviors—could significantly raise students' motivation and perceptions of instructor credibility. Two hundred seventeen students in a large introductory communication class were randomly assigned to read a high or low-FTM hypothetical scenario and then fill scales assessing their motivation and perceptions of instructor credibility. Students in the high-FTM condition rated the instructor in the scenario as more competent, trustworthy, and caring, and indicated higher state motivation.

The effect of Twitter posts on students’ perceptions of instructor credibility

Greater numbers of instructors are turning to social networking sites to communicate with students. This study examined whether posting social, scholarly, or a combination of social and scholarly information to Twitter has an impact on the perceived credibility of the instructor. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: a group that viewed social tweets, one that viewed scholarly tweets, and one that viewed a combination of social and scholarly tweets. Participants were then asked questions about the instructor’s perceived credibility. Results show that participants who viewed only the social tweets rated the instructor significantly higher in perceived credibility than the group that viewed only the scholarly tweets. No other significant differences were found among the groups. These results have implications for both teaching and learning, as there is an established link between perceived instructor credibility and positive learning outcomes.

Instructional Feedback I: The Interaction of Facework and Immediacy on Students' Perceptions of Instructor Credibility

Instructors routinely provide feedback for students concerning the work the students produce as part of a classroom course. Although such information is required of instructors and expected by students, the communication of feedback creates a potentially face-threatening interaction in which the student's self-esteem may be diminished and/or the instructor–student relationship may be strained. This study investigated a video instructor's attempts to mitigate such face threats by using sensitive verbal strategies combined with nonverbal immediacy cues. A 2 x 2 experimental design allowed manipulation of these two variables in higher and lower combinations and subsequent detection of a significant interaction effect between them. In the presence of higher face-threat mitigation cues and higher nonverbal immediacy cues, students attributed greater credibility to the video instructor and evaluated the instructor more highly. These findings are interpreted in light of approach-avoidance theory, which posits that people draw near to others whom they like and avoid those they dislike. Implications for classroom instructors are discussed.

Instructors Who Resist “College Lite”: The Neutralizing Effect of Instructor Immediacy on Students’ Course-Workload Violations and Perceptions of Instructor Credibility and Affective Learning

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an instructor's nonverbal immediacy behaviors and course-workload demands on student perceptions of instructor credibility and student higher-order affective learning. H1 and H2 predicted that an instructor's nonverbal immediacy behaviors would neutralize the instructor's violations of students’ course-workload expectations in a manner that would preserve students’ perceptions of instructor credibility and higher-order affective learning. H1 and H2 were supported. H3 predicted that students who experienced a highly immediate instructor with moderate course-workload demands would report significantly more higher-order affective learning than students who experienced a highly immediate instructor with low or high course-workload demands. H3 was not supported. Implications for instructors are discussed.

Investigating a New Education Frontier: Instructor Communication Behavior in CD-ROM Texts—Do Traditionally Positive Behaviors Translate into This New Environment?

The non-interactive video learning environment, or CD-ROM texts, that feature video instructors delivering course material are becoming increasingly popular in institutions of higher education. Instructor nonverbal immediacy and humor have been proven to enhance instructor credibility and motivate student learning in the traditional and distance learning classrooms. Framed by the media naturalness hypothesis, this experimental study investigated the effects (instructor credibility, student motivation, and learning) of these behaviors when mediated. Results indicate that nonverbal immediacy and humor do not have a significant effect on student learning in virtual instruction but do have a significant effect on student motivation and perceptions of instructor credibility. Highly immediate and highly humorous instructors appear to be more motivating and credible, with nonverbal immediacy having the greatest impact.

Perceived Instructor Credibility as a Function of Instructor Aggressive Communication

The purpose of this study was to examine how an instructor's perceived use of argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness affects students' perceptions of instructor credibility. Results indicate that students rated the instructor who was high in argumentativeness and low in verbal aggressiveness as higher in competence, character, and caring than the instructor who was low in argumentativeness and high in verbal aggressiveness, low in both, and high in both. Results also suggest that any form of verbal aggressiveness on the instructor's part creates lower levels of character and caring despite the instructor's argumentativeness.

Enhancing Student Perceptions of Fairness: The Relationship between Instructor Credibility and Classroom Justice

The present study investigated the relationships between college students’ perceptions of instructor credibility (competence, character, and caring) and their perceptions of classroom justice (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice). Results indicate that perceptions of instructor credibility positively predicted perceptions of classroom justice. Specifically, instructor competence predicted interactional justice; instructor caring predicted procedural and interactional justice; and instructor character predicted distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. In short, instructor credibility was most strongly related to interactional (versus distributive and procedural) justice and instructor character (versus competence or caring) was the most consistent predictor of classroom justice.

The Impact of Instructional Technology Use, Course Design, and Sex Differences on Students’ Initial Perceptions of Instructor Credibility

This study explores the impact that instructional technology use, course design, and sex differences have on students’ initial perceptions of instructors’ credibility (i.e., competence, trustworthiness, and perceived caring). Participants included 864 students from two Midwestern universities who were randomly assigned to one of 16 experimental conditions (i.e., scenarios) manipulating the use of technology across two types of courses and across two types of instructors (i.e., male and female instructors). Multivariate analyses revealed a two-way interaction effect of technology use by student sex on perceptions of instructor credibility. Follow-up procedures revealed both a curvilinear and a linear effect for technology use on students’ perceptions of instructor competence. In terms of instructor trustworthiness, however, only a curvilinear effect emerged. Finally, the results suggested that technology use has both a curvilinear and a linear effect on perceptions of perceived caring, though the linear effect size was marginal at best. Among the most important implications of this research is the fact that technology use produced the strongest effect size for the perceived caring dimension of instructor credibility.