Three investigations exploring relationships between perceived teacher communication behaviors and student learning

TLDR

The study reports three investigations examining how students’ perceptions of teacher communication behavior relate to their perceptions of teaching effectiveness and learning outcomes. The authors conducted three empirical studies that assessed perceived teacher immediacy and communicator style, measuring their associations with affective, behavioral, and cognitive student outcomes. Teachers perceived as exhibiting greater interpersonal solidarity and a more positive communicator style were rated as more effective, elicited stronger student affect toward the instructor and course, increased behavioral intent to use the course, while the link to cognitive learning was negligible.

Abstract

This essay reports three investigations which examined the relationship between perceived teacher communication behavior and either student perceptions of teaching effectiveness or student learning. Teachers who were perceived as having greater interpersonal solidarity and a more positive communicator style (more dramatic, open, relaxed, impression leaving, and friendly) were perceived as more effective. Furthermore, positive perceptions of teacher communicator style resulted in greater student affect toward the instructor, the course content, and the overall course. It also resulted in greater student behavioral intent to use the course. The relationship of communicator style to cognitive learning, however, was less clear and basically nonexistent. The relationship between perceived teacher immediacy (a variable previously demonstrated to be highly predictive of affective and behavioral commitment) and communicator style was also examined and discussed.