James Katt

The Relationship of Instructor Self-Disclosure, Nonverbal Immediacy, and Credibility to Student Incivility in the College Classroom

In this study, we examined the potential mediating role of instructor credibility in the relationship of instructor self-disclosure and nonverbal immediacy to student incivility in the college classroom. Four hundred thirty-eight students completed online questionnaires regarding the instructor of the class they attended prior to the one in which the study was administered. Dimensions of instructor credibility mediated the relationship of instructor self-disclosure valence, instructor disclosure relevance, and nonverbal immediacy, with student incivility. In addition, the dimension of competence mediated the relationship of instructor communicative behaviors with the other two dimensions of credibility. The amount of instructor self-disclosure was not related to the outcome variables.

A Comparison of the Relationship Between Instructor Nonverbal Immediacy and Teacher Credibility in Brazilian and U.S. Classrooms

Sixty-six students at a Brazilian university and 100 students at a large university in the Southeastern United States completed measures of nonverbal immediacy and source credibility regarding the instructor in the class immediately prior to the one in which the research took place. Among U.S. students, perceived instructor nonverbal immediacy behavior was positively associated with all 3 dimensions of source credibility: competence, trustworthiness, and caring. Among Brazilian students, instructor nonverbal immediacy was positively related to competence and caring only. The relationship of nonverbal immediacy to instructor competence was stronger Brazilian than it was for U.S. students.

A Structural Equation Modeling Evaluation of the General Model of Instructional Communication

The General Model of Instructional Communication introduced by McCroskey, Valencic, and Richmond (2004) is supported in its original conception by canonical data. This study, however, uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to provide a more detailed analysis. Although the model as originally hypothesized fits the data poorly, analysis of the SEM results suggests adjustments to the original model that substantially improve the models fit. The revised model accounts for significant portions of the variance in the outcome variables, provides a more detailed explanation of the relationships involved, and has implications for future research. Bootstrapped parameter estimates suggest that the results are replicable.

A Preliminary Study of Classroom Motivators and De-Motivators from a Motivation-Hygiene Perspective.

This study seeks to begin answering two simple questions: “What motivates our students?” and its corollary, “What prevents our students from being motivated?” The motivation-hygiene theory (F. Herzberg, Work and the nature of man, World Publishing, Cleveland, OH, 1966), a well-tested theory from organizational psychology, holds that peoples motivation stems from two sources: the desire to grow psychologically and the desire to avoid pain or unpleasantness. Previous research shows psychological growth factors serve as motivators, while pain avoidance factors serve as hygiene factors, neutral when present, but de-motivating when absent. Using this theory as a lens, the current study examines student motivation and finds that similar patterns are present in the classroom.

The Combined Effects of Instructor Communicative Behaviors, Instructor Credibility, and Student Personality Traits on Incivility in the College Classroom

This study investigated the combined role of instructor communication variables (nonverbal immediacy and self-disclosure), instructor credibility (competence, caring, and trustworthiness), and student personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness) in predicting students’ uncivil behaviors in class. A total of 406 students completed online questionnaires regarding the instructor of the class they attended prior to the one in which the study was administered. Personality and instructor behavior variables contributed approximately equally to explaining variance in student incivility. Students’ conscientiousness and agreeableness had direct negative relationships with incivility, whereas instructors’ amount and negativity of self-disclosure had direct positive relationships with incivility.

Testing the classroom citizenship behaviors scale: exploring the association of classroom citizenship behaviors and student traits

ABSTRACT This study investigated the reliability and validity of Myers and colleagues’ Classroom Citizenship Behavior scale, as well as the relationship between student personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and communication apprehension) and CCBs. Two hundred and thirteen students completed questionnaires regarding the instructor of the class they attended prior to the one in which the study was administered. Reliabilities for the involvement and affiliation dimensions of the scale were acceptable; reliability for the courtesy dimension was less than researchers generally look for, consistent with Myers’ findings. Model fit for the scale as indicated by confirmatory factor analysis was acceptable. Relationships emerged between students’ self-reported CCBs and several personality traits. The largest correlation was a negative relationship between communication apprehension and the involvement dimension of classroom citizenship.

The Development of a Set of Core Communication Competencies for Introductory Communication Courses.

ABSTRACT In most academic disciplines, there is one introductory course that presents an overview of the discipline and introduces fundamental, discipline-specific principles and competencies. However, in Communication Studies, the discipline recognizes and offers multiple course options that may serve as the introductory course. This project sought to identify a set of core communication competencies that should constitute the basis for any and all introductory communication courses within and across a variety of communication contexts. Working in four phases over a three-year period using a modified Delphi method and conducting seven focused group sessions with 125 participants, seven core competencies for the introductory communication courses were identified: Monitoring and Presenting Your Self, Practicing Communication Ethics, Adapting to Others, Practicing Effective Listening, Expressing Messages, Identifying and Explaining Fundamental Communication Processes, and Creating and Analyzing Message Strategies.

The Power of Provisional/Immediate Language Revisited: Adding Student Personality Traits to the Mix

Previous research found that relatively minor changes in the wording of written assessments can influence students’ motivation and affect toward the teacher. Not considered previously, however, is the role that student personality traits might play. Are the observed effects consistent across various personality types, or are different personality types affected differently by the same teacher behaviors? This study takes a first step toward answering that question, replicating the previous written feedback style research while adding the dimension of student personality traits to the investigation. The results suggest that the treatment may not be effective for those with high extroversion, low conscientiousness, and low neuroticism. When those cases were excluded from the analysis, the variance accounted for increased substantially, supporting the notion that efficacy of the teacher behaviors is, in part, dependent on student personality traits.

Influencing Perceptions of Relevance

People process information more thoroughly when they are motivated to do so by perceiving the topic to be personally relevant. Scholars, from Aristotle to present-day authors, have advised communicators to stress the importance of their topics to their audiences—the implication being that such invocations can increase an audiences perception of relevance. This assumption, however, was untested by previous research. In this study, the data from a pilot study and two subsequent experiments are combined in an attempt to determine if an audiences perceptions of relevance can be influenced by including content that stresses the relevance of the issue discussed in the message. The results of this study suggest that the manipulation of relevance perception is possible but that relevance may not be the only motivating factor.

Refinement of the Classroom Citizenship Behavior Scale

In its original presentation, scores on two of the three subscales of the Classroom Citizenship Behavior scale were highly reliable. Scores on the subscale measuring the third dimension of classroom citizenship behavior, Courtesy, had poor reliability. We inductively derived additional items for the Courtesy subscale and tested structure and reliability of the revised scale. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the scale readily divided into three factors of six items each, consistent with the proposed model. Furthermore, the subscale scores associated with these factors demonstrated high reliability. Next, two additional communication classes completed the revised scale and confirmatory factor analyses were run on the new version of the three-factor scale. Fit indices were good. The revised Classroom Citizenship Behaviors scale provides a stronger tool for investigating student behaviors that contribute to the effective functioning of the classroom environment.