Teacher Clarity Research Articles

Academic and Social Integration in the Basic Communication Course: Predictors of Students' Out-of-Class Communication and Academic Learning

Drawing from Tinto's (1975) interactionalist theory, we examined academic and social integration in the basic communication course classroom and students' continued learning activities outside of the classroom, which Kuh (1995) identified as the other curriculum. A total of 427 undergraduate students enrolled in 24 sections of public-speaking courses reported on their perceptions of instructor clarity and rapport, classroom connectedness, out-of-class communication (OCC), and out-of-class self-regulated and peer learning. Overall, results revealed instructor rapport and connectedness were positively associated with students' OCC, self-regulated learning, and peer learning. In contrast, instructor clarity was negatively related to students' reports of OCC and peer learning. These results suggest social integration in the classroom may facilitate students' continued learning activities outside of the classroom.

Evaluation of instruction: students’ patterns of use and contribution to RateMyProfessors.com

RateMyProfessors.com (RMP) is the most popular commercial website to evaluate instructors, and houses a wealth of student-generated information in the form of ratings and reviews. This study investigated whether general chemistry students who use RMP were different from other students, and their reasons to use and contribute to the site. A pool of 398 students were surveyed. The survey gathered demographic information, patterns and frequency of use, and information to characterise participants in terms of their learning/grade orientation. Data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics and the application of mixture models (latent class analysis and latent profile analysis). There were no significant differences between contributors and non-contributors in terms of gender, major, year status, grade point average, course load, previous chemistry grade and learning/grade orientation. Findings for this sample do not support the common assumption that students use RMP to shop for easy instructors. Instructor helpfulness, clarity and overall rating were reported as important aspects to visit the site. Findings agree with literature reports and support the use of RMP as supplemental data to inform assessment of instruction at the general chemistry programme level. Programmes in other disciplines can adapt the methods presented to assess the suitability of RMP data-sets for similar purposes.

College Student Learning, Motivation, and Satisfaction as a Function of Effective Instructor Communication Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which instructors simultaneously engage in specific rhetorical (i.e., clarity, humor) and relational (i.e., immediacy, confirmation, and caring) communicative behaviors and how these behaviors are reflected in the learning outcomes (i.e., affective learning, cognitive learning, state motivation, and communication satisfaction) reported by students. Participants were 286 undergraduate college students who were enrolled in one of three sociology courses at a large Mid-Atlantic university. The results indicated that all four learning outcomes were affected in some combination by perceived instructor clarity, humor, confirmation, and caring. Future research should continue to examine effective instruction using multibehavioral assessments, but may consider whether these assessments are linked to class size and type of institution.

Student Emotional and Cognitive Interest as Mediators of Teacher Communication Behaviors and Student Engagement: An Examination of Direct and Interaction Effects

The purpose of this study was to examine the main and interactive effects of teacher communication behaviors and student interest on engagement. Participants included 518 undergraduate students who were asked to identify the first class they attended in a particular week and then use that class as the reference point for all survey items. The findings suggested that teacher immediacy more strongly predicted student emotional interest than cognitive interest, whereas teacher clarity was a stronger predictor of student cognitive interest. The results indicated a significant interaction effect between teacher immediacy and clarity and student cognitive interest, as well as a significant interaction effect between student emotional and cognitive interest and engagement. The final structural model accounted for 42% of the variance in student engagement. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed.

Teacher Technology Policies and Online Communication Apprehension as Predictors of Learner Empowerment

In this study, we investigated the association between instructor technology use policies and learner empowerment. Specifically, we employed Turman and Schrodt's principle of moderation, predicting that learner empowerment would be highest when instructors moderately encourage course-relevant technology use and moderately discourage nonrelevant use. Results instead indicated a positive linear association between encouraging policies and learner empowerment, and a curvilinear effect for discouraging policies (with learner empowerment lowest at a moderate level of such policies). Apprehension about communicating online moderated the association between discouraging policies and learner empowerment. One implication of these results is that students expect course-relevant technology access yet also desire teacher clarity regarding permissible technology use in the classroom. Students apprehensive about technology may especially value such clarity.

The Effects of Teacher Behaviors on Students' Inclination to Inquire and Lifelong Learning

This study estimated the effects of teacher organization, clarity, classroom challenge and faculty expectations, support, and prompt feedback on students’ inclination to inquire and lifelong learning during the first year of college. Controlling for a battery of potential confounding influences, teacher organization was positively associated with gains in students’ Need for Cognition, while instructor clarity, classroom challenge/high expectations, and prompt feedback resulted in gains in both Need for Cognition and Positive Attitudes Toward Literacy. Lastly, it appears that the influence of teacher support on students’ Need for Cognition is conditional by level of tested academic preparation.

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

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.

Resolving International Teaching Assistant Language Inadequacy through Dialogue: Challenges and Opportunities for Clarity and Credibility

Guided by Giddens’ structuration theory, this study highlights structures that both enable and constrain nonnative English-speaking teachers and students in American college classrooms. Before international teaching assistants (ITAs) step into their American classrooms, several semishaped class structures are already in place: students (mostly American) possess most mainstream American values and practices; students may avoid getting to know their ITA because they may feel that they will lose “power” to an individual not part of the primary (American) culture; students may possess negative stereotypes of ITAs because of unpleasant prior experiences with ITAs who struggled with the English language; and, more generally, students may possess intuitive doubts about an ITA's ability to clearly communicate the course content. In essence, students’ initial perceptions of ITA clarity, credibility, and language inadequacy coexist as constraining social structures that face ITAs in American instructional settings. Turning these structures into enabling mechanisms that smoothly facilitate the teaching and learning process poses a vital issue for ITAs. This study examined the effects of ITA self-disclosure of English language inadequacy on teacher clarity and credibility. Results indicate that an ITA's dialogic attempt to resolve language inadequacy has negative effects on student perceptions of classroom clarity. However, the findings point toward important benefits for enhanced teacher credibility for ITAs who use a dialogic approach to resolve language inadequacy. Theoretical and pedagogical implications and areas for future research are discussed.

University students’ attitudes about learning in small groups after frequent participation

This study examined the frequency of small groups in university students’ coursework and how that related to their general attitudes toward learning in groups and their views about different aspects of group work. We administered a survey to 208 students in an upper-division interdisciplinary arts and sciences program. Students reported that they had been in multiple groups, of different duration and types, both in their current program and in courses at their lower-division institutions. A regression analysis uncovered strong relationships between students’ past and present group experiences, peers, and instructor clarity about group purpose. The findings suggest that successful group work is no longer a matter of instructor effort but requires campus initiatives and interdepartmental coordination if students are to understand and experience the benefits of learning in small groups.

College Student Involvement: An Examination of Student Characteristics and Perceived Instructor Communication Behaviors in the Classroom

As an extension of current instructional research, this study explored students' proactive personality and academic locus of control (ALOC), along with perceived instructor clarity and nonverbal immediacy as predictors of willingness to talk in class (in-class involvement) and self-regulated learning (out-of-class involvement). Results found verbal and nonverbal messages function differently in the instructional process. Teacher clarity predicted out-of-class involvement, while nonverbal immediacy predicted in-class involvement. However, proactivity and ALOC consistently predicted students' willingness to talk in class and their self-regulated learning. Thus, a sense of ownership over one's learning environment fosters student involvement.

Instructor Credibility as a Mediator of Instructors’ Prosocial Communication Behaviors and Students’ Learning Outcomes

This study tested two models of instructor credibility as a potential mediator of instructors’ prosocial communication behaviors (e.g., confirmation, clarity, and nonverbal immediacy) and students’ learning outcomes. Participants included 1,416 undergraduate students from four different institutions across the United States. Results of structural equation modeling provided greater support for the partial mediation model, whereby credibility partially mediated the effects of teacher confirmation and clarity on learning outcomes, though it fully mediated the effects of nonverbal immediacy. When combined, students’ perceptions of all three prosocial behaviors accounted for 66% and 57% of the variance in credibility and learning outcomes, respectively. Among the more important implications of this research is the finding that confirming behaviors and clarity have both direct and indirect effects on student learning.

The Role of Student Characteristics and Teacher Behaviors in Students’ Learner Empowerment

Empowered learners are more motivated to perform classroom tasks, and they feel more competent in the classroom, find the required tasks more meaningful, and feel they have an impact on their learning process. Previous work has concluded that empowerment is primarily influenced by teacher behavior, which is not consistent with contemporary research on achievement motivation. The focus of the present study was to examine the role of student characteristics (temperament and learner orientation) on empowerment along with the impact of instructor communication behavior (nonverbal immediacy and clarity). Interpretation of results via the motivation model revealed teacher clarity to be the primary predictor of student empowerment and learning. Student temperament and learner orientation had little impact On empowerment.

Teacher Self-Disclosure: Amount, Relevance, and Negativity

This study focused on teacher self-disclosure in the classroom and the introduction of a measure that encompasses three dimensions of teacher self-disclosure: amount, relevance, and valence. Although other measures of self-disclosure exist, including a unidimensional scale for quantity of teacher self-disclosure, past research indicated that teacher self-disclosure entails more than just the amount. Specifically, we determined that relevance and valence are important dimensions of teacher self-disclosure. Additionally, the three dimensions of teacher self-disclosure related to course affect, affect for the instructor, student motivation, teacher clarity, and student interest. The Teacher Self-Disclosure Scale revealed a suitable level of reliability (α = .80 amount; α = .88 relevance; α = .84 negativity) and evidence of criterion validity.

The Effects of Teacher Clarity, Nonverbal Immediacy, and Caring on Student Motivation, Affective and Cognitive Learning

The present study examined the effects of teacher clarity, teacher immediacy, and teacher caring on student motivation and affective and cognitive learning. Participants (233 undergraduate students enrolled in a freshman-level communication skills course at a large midwestern university) read descriptions of a hypothetical instructor who was described as being either low or high in nonverbal immediacy, teacher clarity, and teacher caring. Results revealed significant main effects for each independent variable and several significant two-way interactions. Data suggest that teacher behaviors, especially teacher immediacy and teacher clarity, play complimentary roles in enhancing student learning.

Effects of teacher clarity and student anxiety on student outcomes

A laboratory experiment was carried out with 120 undergraduate students to examine a possible aptitude–treatment interaction between teacher clarity and student test anxiety in relation to two outcome measures, namely student achievement and student motivation, with student intelligence statistically controlled. Students completed measures of intelligence and test anxiety and were randomly assigned to high teacher clarity or low teacher clarity conditions, defined by the presence or absence of specific teaching behaviours in a videotaped lecture with content held constant across conditions. Measures of motivation and self-efficacy for learning the material were completed immediately post-treatment, then one week later participants completed an achievement test based on the material contained in the lecture and assigned homework. Results revealed significant beneficial main effects for high vs. low teacher clarity for both achievement and motivation measures, but no aptitude–treatment interaction between teacher clarity and student test anxiety.

Expectancy Violations of Instructor Communication as Predictors of Motivation and Learning: A Comparison of Traditional and Nontraditional Students

Utilizing Burgoon's expectancy violations theory, this study compared traditional and nontraditional students' prescriptive expectations and experiences with instructor immediacy, clarity, and affinity-seeking to determine the effects on cognitive learning and state motivation. Results revealed that significantly higher levels of state motivation and cognitive learning existed for nontraditional students. Negative violations of instructor clarity expectations for traditional and nontraditional students had negative predictive value of cognitive learning and state motivation; positive violations of instructor affinity-seeking had negative predictive value of learning and motivation for nontraditional students.

Instructional Clarity: The Effect of Bilingualism and Instructor’s Preparation

Teacher’s talk is an expected and extensive routine of classroom life. Many aspects of Instructional clarity as a preparation to the lecture were addressed already by many authors (e.g., Gliessman, Pugh, Brown, Archer, and Snyder, 1989; Metclaf, 1992; Hiller, 1971; Rogien, 1995; Rosenshine and Furst, 1971). In spite instructional clarity having waned from research studies in recent years, it is still alive with respect to bilingual instructions and their outcomes. The work is going in the American and World Universities with respect to the training of bilingual’s teacher and it contact with students. Bilingualism can affect the instructor clarity, because knowledge of English among bilinguals is usually not the same as that of the monolingual (English) instructors (e.g, Best, McRoberts, and Goodal, 2001; Snow, 1993; Strange, Yamada, Kubo, Trent, and Niski, 2001).

Constructing and Validating a Teacher Immediacy Scale: A Chinese Perspective

The purpose of this study is to construct and validate a scale of perceived teacher immediacy from a Chinese cultural perspective. Based on the immediacy-exchange theories that emphasize the core role culture plays in the assessment of immediacy, this study argues that the validity and reliability of existing teacher verbal and nonverbal immediacy scales developed from U.S. classrooms are not warranted in Chinese classrooms. Open-ended questionnaires and focus-group interviews suggest three dimensions of teacher immediacy from a Chinese perspective: instructional, relational, and personal. The Chinese Teacher Immediacy Scale is validated via confirmatory factor analysis and correlation with measures of teacher clarity and classroom communication apprehension.

Are We Violating Their Expectations? Instructor Communication Expectations of Traditional and Nontraditional Students

For years, researchers have been telling teachers how to communicate with students. Advising them to be immediate, clear and engage in affinity-seeking behaviors has been based on traditional undergraduate student responses. Adult education scholars recognize age and experience create unique expectations for instructors and the learning environment. Utilizing Expectancy Violations Theory, an investigation of traditional and nontraditional students’ prescriptive expectations and experiences with instructor nonverbal immediacy, verbal immediacy, affinity seeking, and clarity behaviors reveals that differences exist and expectations are violated. Nontraditional students’ expectations for affinity seeking were positively violated, traditional students’ expectations for verbal immediacy were negatively violated, and expectations for instructor clarity behaviors were negatively violated for both groups.

Effects of Teacher Clarity and Nonverbal Immediacy on Student Learning, Receiver Apprehension, and Affect

This study examined the role that nonverbal immediacy plays in clear teaching, as well as the effects clear and immediate teaching have on student learning, state receiver apprehension, and affect. The results indicate that clarity, as defined in this study, is an important factor in student learning, receiver apprehension, and affect. Students who were taught by a clear teacher learned more than those who were taught by an unclear teacher, experienced less state receiver apprehension, and had more positive affect for the instructor and the course material. Nonverbal immediacy did not have a significant effect on learning, but did increase students' affect for the instructor and the course material.