The impact of gender and immediacy on willingness to talk and perceived learning

Abstract

The researchers surveyed 256 undergraduate students at a small liberal arts university for their perceptions of perceived learning, willingness to talk in class, and instructor verbal and nonverbal immediacy behavior, with responses grouped by instructor gender and student gender. Instructor verbal immediacy behavior was positively related to a student's willingness to talk in class, while gender was not a factor for this outcome. Instructor verbal immediacy behavior was positively related to a student's perceived learning. While students perceived more learning from a professor of the same gender, the effect was strongly mediated by instructor verbal immediacy behavior.