Using facework as a theoretical lens, we examined power in the classroom from the standpoint that students, as a connected group, may have upward influence in the college classroom. Participants included both students (N = 375) and faculty (N = 104) who reported on perceptions of classroom connectedness and instructor compliance to student…

Out-of-classroom communication (OCC) in the form of email has increased considerably in the past few years. This study uses Interaction Adaptation Theory (IAT) to inform and frame the impact of using overly casual email messages with instructors. Study one used an experimental method to determine that message quality (casual vs. formal messages)…

This study examined whether college students' communication avoidance and socio-communicative orientation were related to perceptions of instructors' immediacy, socio-communication style, satisfaction with instructors and learning. Students high in communication apprehension and/or less immediate perceived their instructors as less immediate and…

This study hypothesized that teacher nonverbal immediacy and credibility interact to impact student motivation and affective learning. Utilizing an experimental 2 x 2 (immediacy high/low, credibility high/low) factorial design, 586 students were exposed to one of four written scenarios and completed motivation and affective learning scales.…

This study investigated the effect of teacher misbehavior on student affect for the teacher and teacher credibility. Participants completed an Affect Toward Teacher Scale and a Source Credibility Scale in reference to one of four experimental conditions. The first two research questions examined the effect of misbehaviors on student affect for the…

This article reports two studies on teacher confirmation. The first examined (1) students' feelings of confirmation or disconfirmation as a function of perceived teacher behaviors, and (2) whether teacher confirmation behaviors occur in hierarchically arranged clusters. Sixty-one percent of the variance in students' feelings of confirmation was…

Describes systematic desensitization as a form of behavior therapy for reducing anxiety. Examines its rationale and clinical practice and explores two features of the technique (relaxation and anxiety hierarchy) as they may be applied to classroom speech instruction for reticent students. (JMF)

Investigates the effects of immediacy on cognitive learning in an experimental situation which removed the effects of affect from the measurement of cognitive learning. Finds a positive relationship between immediacy and cognitive learning at the short-term recall level. (MM)

Presents a taxonomy that organizes learner activities into the dimensions of mental, social, and physical involvement. Applies the taxonomy or model to speech class activities and reports validity evidence from several research studies. (PD)

Reports the development of a 14-item index of teachers' affective communication designed to avoid the shortcomings associated with currently available measurement strategies. Recognizes the relationship between the teacher's style of affective communication in the classroom and teacher effectiveness. (JMF)

This study explored relations between social network characteristics in an online graduate class and two learning outcomes: affective and cognitive learning. The social network analysis data were compiled by entering the number of one-to-one postings sent by each student to each other student in a course web site discussion space into a specially…

This study, the fifth in a series focusing on the communication of power in the classroom and its role in student learning, investigated the relationship between teachers' use of behavior alteration techniques and student learning, and the impact of teachers' communication training and student quality on the use of these techniques. (PD)

Examines significant teacher behavior which positively affects students' perceptions of the teacher-student relationship. Identifies specific self-disclosive statements which students attributed to good and/or poor teachers. Finds a significant relationship between teachers' self-disclosive statements and students' perceptions. (MM)

Results suggest that (1) sexism in the classroom may be a "male disease," affecting perceptions and classroom climate and (2) student coping behaviors such as daydreaming and hiding feelings are used only in the classes of male professors. (PD)

Identifies verbal teacher immediacy behaviors which relate to increased learning, finding that the impact of both verbal and non-verbal behaviors on learners is enhanced as class size increases. Provides empirical definition of a specific set of low-inference verbal variables which, combined with previously identified nonverbal variables, clarify…