Learner Empowerment and Teacher Evaluations as Functions of Teacher Power Use in the College Classroom

Abstract

Abstract This study tested two theoretical models of learner empowerment as a potential mediator of teacher power use and students' ratings of instruction. Participants included 1,416 undergraduate students from four different institutions in the United States. Results of structural equation modeling provided more support for the partial mediation model than for the full mediation model, though in the final structural model, learner empowerment failed to mediate the influence of teacher power use on students' ratings of instruction. Instead, referent, reward, and legitimate power accounted for 66% of the variance in learner empowerment, while referent, expert, and coercive power accounted for 80% of the variance in teacher evaluations. Referent power emerged as the only form of power that predicted both empowerment and evaluations. Keywords: Learner EmpowermentTeacher EvaluationsRatings of InstructionTeacher Power Additional informationNotes on contributorsPaul Schrodt Paul Schrodt (Ph.D., University of Nebraska—Lincoln, 2003) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas Christian University Paul L. Witt Paul L. Witt (Ph.D., University of North Texas, 2000) is an Associate Professor and Graduate Director Scott A. Myers Scott A. Myers (Ph.D., Kent State University, 1995) is an Associate Professor and Graduate Studies Coordinator in the Department of Communication Studies at West Virginia University Paul D. Turman Paul D. Turman (Ph.D., University of Nebraska—Lincoln, 2000) is Director of Academic Assessment for the University of South Dakota Board of Regents Matthew H. Barton Matthew H. Barton (Ph.D., University of Nebraska—Lincoln, 2002) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Southern Utah University Kodiane A. Jernberg Kodiane A. Jernberg (B.A., Buena Vista University, 2006) is a graduate student at Texas Christian University