Jillian L. WendtUniversity of the District of Columbia

Deanna NisbetRegent University

E-LEARN 2015 CONFERENCEOCTOBER 19-22, 2015

TEACHER IMMEDIACY: THE RELATIONSHIP WITH PERCEIVED

LEARNING AND STUDENT OUTCOMES IN THE U.S.

INTERNATIONAL CLASSROOM

• Unique challenges encountered by international students enrolled in U.S. courses– Many are successful– Different set of challenges

• How do we best meet international students’ needs?

INTRODUCTION

• Challenges include:– Language– Culture– Academic expectations– Social expectations

INTRODUCTION

• Documented difficulties:– Language– Adapting to academic culture– Misunderstandings– Complications in communication– Isolation– Alienation– Culture shock– Overall adjustment (Erichsen & Bollinger, 2011)

INTRODUCTION

• Importance of examining design and delivery of instruction– How can international students be best supported?– What are best practices?– What are evidence-based practices?– Do current models meet international student needs?

INTRODUCTION

• Positive relationship between teacher immediacy and positive student outcomes (Ni & Aust, 2008; King & Witt, 2009; Russo & Benson, 2005)

• Positive relationship between perceived learning and positive student outcomes (King & Witt, 2009; Rovai et al., 2009)

• …with U.S. students.

• Do similar relationships exist with international students?

INTRODUCTION

Does a relationship exist between international students’perceptions of teacher immediacy, perceived learning, and end of course grades when enrolled in

U.S. graduate courses offered in a computer-mediated delivery format?

INTRODUCTION

• Theory of immediacy (Mehrabian, 1971)

– Indicator of attitudes in communication (Mehrabian, 1966)

– Verbal and non-verbal immediacy– Explicit and implicit forms

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

• Relationship between increased teacher immediacy and positive student outcomes (Gorham, 1988)

• Relationship between increased teacher immediacy and student satisfaction (Ni & Aust, 2008)

• Relationship between increased teacher immediacy and student motivation (Wilson, 2006)

BACKGROUND

• CAP Perceived Learning Scale (Rovai et al., 2009)

– Measures perceived learning

• Domains:– Cognitive– Affective– Psychomotor

BACKGROUND

BACKGROUND

• CAP– Relationship to learning effectiveness– Relationship to learning practices– Predictor of student course outcomes (Rovai et al., 2009)

BACKGROUND

• Nature of teaching and learning environment– Discourse community– Varies from one culture to another (DeVillar, Faltis, & Cummins, 1994;

Hofsted, 1986; Sadykova & Dautermann, 2009)

• Expectations vary

BACKGROUND

• Challenges of computer-mediated environment– Delayed response time– Lower quality of communication (Liu et al., 2010)

– Heightened cultural challenges (Erichsen & Bollinger, 2011; Liu et al., 2010; Want & Reeves, 2007)

BACKGROUND

• Increased examination

• Increased intervention

• Importance of studying impact of teacher immediacy on outcomes

• Relationship to student success

BACKGROUND

• Causal comparative research design

• Spearman’s rank order correlation

METHODOLOGY

• RQ1: Is there a statistically significant relationship between international students’ perceptions of teacher immediacy when enrolled in a graduate course and students’ end of course grades?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• RQ2: Is there a statistically significant relationship between international students’ perceived learning when enrolled in a graduate course and students’ end of course grades?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• RQ3: Is there a statistically significant relationship between international students’ perceptions of teacher immediacy when enrolled in a graduate course and students’ perceived learning?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• 276 students

• Enrolled in graduate courses

• Northern Virginia, USA– 211 males– 65 females

PARTICIPANTS

• Synchronous delivery

• Moodle ™ learning management system

• 8 week courses

• Survey given during week 5– Demographics– Verbal Immediacy Scale (Gorham, 1988)

– CAP Perceived Learning Scale (Rovai et al., 2009)

– End of course grades

PARTICIPANTS

• RQ1: Small, negative statistically significant relationship between students’ perceptions of teacher immediacy and end of course grades

OVERVIEW OF RESULTS

• RQ2: No statistically significant relationship between students’ perceived learning and end of course grades

OVERVIEW OF RESULTS

• RQ3: Small, positive statistically significant relationship between students’ perceptions of teacher immediacy and students’ perceived learning

OVERVIEW OF RESULTS

• Current findings contradict previous studies which revealed the following:– Positive relationship between perceived teacher immediacy

and student outcomes (Ni & Aust, 2008; Russo & Benson, 2005)

– Positive relationship between perceived learning and course grades (Rovai et al., 2009)

DISCUSSION

• What works for U.S. students may not work for international students.

• Certain types of course design may present a barrier for international students.

IMPLICATIONS

More research is needed to examine:

• Factors that impact international students’ success

• Unique considerations for course design and delivery

FUTURE STUDY

Bista, K., & Foster, C. (2011). Issues of international student retention in American higher education. The International Journal of Research and Review, 7(2), 1-10.

Bloom, B.S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay.

DeVillar, R. A., Faltis, C., & Cummins, J. (1994). Cultural diversity in schools: From rhetoric to practice. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Erichsen, E., & Bolliger, D. (2011). Towards understanding international graduate student isolation in traditional and online environments. Educational Technology Research & Development, 59(3), 309-326.

Gorham, J. (1988). The relationship between verbal teacher immediacy behaviors and student learning. Communication Education, 37, 40-53.

Hofstede, G. (1986). Cultural differences in teaching and learning. International journal of International Relations, 10, 301-320.

Kearney, P. (1994). Affective learning scale. In R.B. Rubin, P. Palmgreen, & H.E. Sypher (Eds.), Communication research measures: A sourcebook. New York: The Guilford Press (pp. 81-85).

King, P., & Witt, P. (2009). Teacher immediacy, confidence testing, and the measurement of cognitive learning. Communication Education, 58(1), 110-123.

Lin, M. (2012). Students of different minds: Bridging the gaps of international students studying in the US. US-China Education Review, 3, 333-344.

Liu, X., Liu, S., Lee, S., & Magjuka, R.J. (2010). Cultural difference in online learning: International student perceptions. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 13(3), 177-188.

REFERENCES

Mehrabian, A. (1966). Immediacy: An indicator of attitudes in linguistic communication. Journal of Personality, 34(1), 26-34.

Mehrabian, A. (1971). Silent messages. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc.

Ni, S., & Aust, R. (2008). Examining teacher verbal immediacy and sense of classroom community in online classes. International Journal on E-Learning, 7(3), 477-498.

Rovai, A., Wighting, M.J., Baker, J.D., & Grooms, L.D. (2009). Development of an instrument to measure perceived cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning in traditional and virtual classroom higher education settings. Internet and Higher Education, 12, 7-13.

Russo, T., & Benson, S. (2005). Learning with invisible others: Perceptions of online presence and their relationship to cognitive and affective learning. Educational Technology & Society, 8(1), 54-62.

Sadykova, G. (2014). Mediating Knowledge through Peer-to-Peer Interaction in a Multicultural Online Learning Environment: A Case Study of International Students in the US. International Review of Research in Open And Distance Learning, 15(3), 24-49.

Sadykova, G., & Dautermann, J. (2009). Crossing cultures and borders in international online distance higher education. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 13(2), 89-114.

Wang, C., & Reeves, T.C. (2007). Synchronous online learning experiences: The perspectives of international students from Taiwan. Educational Media International, 44(4), 339-356.

Wilson, J.H. (2006). Predicting student attitudes and grades from perceptions of instructors’ attitudes. Teaching of Psychology, 33(2), 91-95.

Zhang, Z., & Kenny, R. F. (2010). Learning in an online distance education course: Experiences of three international students. International Review of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 11(1), 17-36.

REFERENCES