Chapter16

Copyright (c) Allyn & Bacon 2008

Chapter 16: Instructional Communication

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Historical Background


Early Years

First recognized in 1970.

In 1972, the International Communication Association (ICA) approved I. C. as a division in communication studies.

In 1973, the joint doctoral program between education and communication studies was started at West Virginia University.

In 1977, I.C. found its place in the Communication Yearbook.


Areas of Modern Instruction

K-12 Education

Undergraduate Education

Graduate Education

Professional Education

Religious Education

Training & Development

Workplace Learning


Teaching as Science

Pedagogy is the science and art of teaching children.

Andragogy is the science and art of teaching adults.


Benjamin Bloom’s Three Domains of

Learning(pp. 411-412)


Affective Learning

The acquisition of likes and attitudes, values, and beliefs related to various aspects of knowledge.


Behavioral Learning

The mastery of a motor act or skill.


Cognitive Learning

The recall and recognition of knowledge and the development of intellectual abilities and skills.



Anxiety In the

Classroom


Communication Apprehension

It is estimated that 20% of students in schools may suffer from high levels of communication apprehension.

The student who is highly communicatively apprehensive tends to have a low tolerance for ambiguity, lacks self‑control, is not adventurous, lacks emotional maturity, is introverted, has low self‑esteem, is not innovative, has a low tolerance for disagreement, and is unassertive.


CA ContinuedStudents who do not talk in school are perceived to be less competent, less intelligent, less likely to get into trouble, less likely to do well in school, less likely to be called upon to respond.

These students tend to have less opportunities to correct learning mistakes, receive less attention from the teacher, receive less reinforcement when they do something well, ask for assistance less frequently, volunteer to participate less, and receive lower grades on class participation reports.


CA ContinuedBy the time High CAs complete high school, their learning, as measured by standardized achievement tests, is impacted negatively.

High CAs’ peer groups often see her or him as less approachable, less friendly, less talkative, less outgoing, less pleasant, and less intelligent.


CA ContinuedHighly apprehensive students receive lower grades in classes where communication is performed, lower participation grades, lower overall grade point averages (from elementary through college), are more likely to be held back in kindergarten, and ultimately more likely to drop out of school.

Research has shown that IQ and CA are not related to each other.


Teacher Apprehension (p. 413)

Scores over 50 are considered high.

Teacher Apprehension: Generally visible distress or signs of apprehension when being approached by or communicated with by any teacher.


Evaluation Apprehension (p. 414)

Scores over 50 are considered high.

Evaluation Apprehension: The fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated evaluative situations in the classroom.

About 20 % of students have an abnormal fear or anxiety about test or exam situations in the classroom.


Student Motivation

(p. 415)


Sir Christopher Ball in his presidential address to the North of England Education Conference in 1995 said, “There are only three things of importance to successful learning: motivation, motivation, and motivation . . .any fool can teach students who want to learn.”


Motivation

A force or drive that influences behavior to achieve a desired outcome (Millette & Gorham, 2002, p. 141).


Richmond (1990)

Richmond found that student motivation was positively related to referent power and negatively related to coercive power.

Richmond found that students who were motivated had higher affective and cognitive learning levels.


Millette & Gorham (2002)

Motivated students prepare more for class, show up to class more often, turn in assignments on time, study more for exams, ask questions during class, have a better grasp of the material, and made better grades.


Two Types of Motivation

Intrinsic motivation originates from within a student.

Extrinsic motivation is motivation that exists outside of the student.


Teacher Communication


Teacher Clarity (p. 416)

The process by which an instructor is able to effectively stimulate the desired meaning of course content and process in the minds of students through the use of appropriately-structured verbal and nonverbal messages (Chesebro & McCroskey, 1998, 262-263).


Verbal Clarity

Fluency - effective use of pausing without verbal surrogates.

Explanations and Examples – should use explanations and examples students can relate to and understand.


Structural Clarity

Previews (Road Mapping) – letting your audience know where you’re going. Organization – grouping relevant information into 3-5 easy to remember chunks. Transitions – clearly moving from one aspect of your organization to another. Reviews – restating what has been covered at the end of an educational session.


Structural Clarity (cont.)

Skeletal Outlines – providing students with an outline of what will be covered.

Visual Aids – People remember more of what they see & hear.


Teacher Nonverbal Immediacy (pp.417-418)

Richmond, Gorham, and McCroskey (1987), it was found that “moderate immediacy is necessary for cognitive learning and low immediacy may suppress such learning. However, high immediacy may not increase cognitive learning over that generated by moderate immediacy” (p. 587).


Teacher Nonverbal Immediacy cont.

Communicator Clarity has also been shown to be related to perceptions of immediacy (Chesebro & McCroskey, 1998).

Thomas, Richmond, & McCroskey (1994) found that both assertiveness and responsiveness were related to immediacy, but the relationship between immediacy and responsiveness was stronger.


Teacher Nonverbal Immediacy cont.

Richmond and McCroskey (2004) believe that nonverbal immediacy is by far the most important communicative variable in a learning situation.


Nonverbal Immediacy in the Classroom

Proxemics

Haptics

Vocalics

Kinesics

Eye Contact

Chronemics

Physical Appearance


Teacher Humor Assessment (p. 419)

Humor Assessment: An individual’s use of humor as a communicative tool.


Humor Outcomes

Avner Ziv (1988) found that teacher use of humor leads to higher cognitive recall.

Teacher use of humor is related to student affect, learning, perceived teacher credibility (Wrench & Richmond, 2004).

Teacher use of humor is related to classroom compliance and level of behavioral problems (Punyanunt, 2000).


Humor Outcomes

Teacher use of humor is related to student perceptions of teacher nonverbal immediacy (Wanzer & Frymier, 1999).

Teacher use of humor was negatively related to test and classroom anxiety (Tamborini and Zillmann, 1981).

Wrench & Punyanunt-Carter (2005, 2008) have also been investigating humor in advisor-advisee relationships.


Teacher Misbehaviors


Why Teachers Misbehave

Boredom

Dislikes Teaching

Out-of-date

Establishes too high of expectations for themselves and their students

Poor interaction with students

Poor teaching performance

Low affect for immediate supervisor

Stress and overload


Three Types of Misbehaviors

(pp. 357-358)


Incompetence

The extent to which a teacher does not know his or her content and/or how to present that content effectively in the classroom.


Offensiveness

The extent to which a teacher is abusive or harassing in the classroom.


Indolence

The traditional perspective of the absent-minded professor.


Ending the Course


The Course Learning Objectives

Understand the history of the field of communication. Be able to define the term human communication and understand the basic process of human communication. Understand how individual perceptions impact human communication. Differentiate between various communication approach and avoidance traits.



Understand the purpose of both verbal and nonverbal messages. Be able to explain the processes of selectivity and attribution. Be able to explain and differentiate among attitudes, beliefs, and values.Understand the process of power and influence in human communication.



See how the previous eight objectives can be exhibited in a range of communicative contexts (public, interpersonal, intercultural, gender, health, mediated, organizational, and instructional). Gain a further understanding of how you communicate as an individual.

Chapter16

Education

student motivation

teacher communication

apprehensive students

examples students

motivated students

teacher apprehension

ca continued students

affective learning