Virginia P. Richmond

Power in the classroom VI: Verbal control strategies, nonverbal immediacy and affective learning

This investigation is the sixth in a series of projects designed to programmatically examine teacher power in the classroom. Recognizing that nonverbal behaviors typically provide the framework for interpreting verbal messages, this project proposed and sequentially tested a heuristic model of student affective learning as a function of behavior alteration techniques and teacher nonverbal immediacy. Employing a two‐study correlational design, the model was tested in five stages across secondary and college students. Results supported the proposed positive relationships among teachers’ use of. behavior alteration techniques, immediacy and student affect for both studies. Teachers’ selective use of verbal control strategies in the classroom was shown to be indirectly related to affective learning as a function of students’ perceptions of teacher immediacy. Interpretations focus on the model, previous power in the classroom studies, and the design of future studies in this program.

Communication in the classroom: Power and motivation

The goal of the present study was to determine which power bases and Behavior Alteration Techniques have positive, negative, and no association with student motivation toward studying course content. In addition, teacher immediacy and teacher use of affinity‐seeking techniques were examined for their potential to off‐set possible negative effects on student motivation resulting from teachers’ use of power and BATs to control mundane student behaviors in the classroom. To replicate previous work and place this study within the context of that work, both cognitive and affective learning also were examined. Results are summarized in the context of this and the previous studies in this series.

Power in the Classroom VII: Linking Behavior Alteration Techniques to Cognitive Learning.

The present investigation examined the relationship between use of Behavior Alteration Techniques (BATs) and student perceived cognitive learning in college classes. Arguing that BATs serve to gain student on‐task compliance which, in turn, is consistently associated with achievement, results indicated a substantial relationship between BAT use and cognitive learning on both absolute and relative measures of achievement. Supplementary analyses further indicated that students perceived “good”; teachers employing more of the BATs positively associated with learning, while “poor”; teachers employed more of the BATs negatively associated with learning. Relatively small differences in teacher BAT use were noted for courses in students’ major area of study versus those courses outside their major. Discussion centers on those BATs recommended for use which are associated with higher cognitive learning and which do not, simultaneously reduce students’ affect.

Power in the classroom I: Teacher and student perceptions

The primary focus of this study was to determine the degree to which teachers and students have shared perceptions of the use of power in the classroom. The results indicated that even though statistically significant associations between teacher and student perceptions were found, teacher/student perceptions of the use of power are not isomorphic. The results also indicated that both teachers and students view the overwhelming proportion of power use to stem from reward, referent, and expert bases.

Power in the Classroom V: Behavior Alteration Techniques, Communication Training and Learning.

This study examined the relationship between differential use of Behavior Alteration Techniques (BATs) by teachers trained or untrained in communication in instruction and learning of students of varying quality levels. Results indicated that increased use of Immediate Reward from Behavior, Deferred Reward from Behavior, Self‐Esteem, and Teacher Feedback as well as decreased use of Punishment from Teacher, Legitimate‐Teacher Authority, Debt, Responsibility to Class, and Peer Modeling were associated with increased student learning. Results also indicated that appropriate training in communication in instruction may lead to more appropriate choices of BAT usage and increased student learning. The results of this investigation were found to be generally consistent with previous studies in this series.

Willingness to communicate: Differing cultural perspectives

The general tendency to approach or avoid communication has been recognized as an important individual difference among people in a single culture for several decades. Recent research in Australia, Micronesia, Puerto Rico, Sweden, and the United States suggests large differences exist in such tendencies between people in different cultures as well as within a given culture. This research suggests such “individual” tendencies may be developed to very different degrees in dissimilar cultures. The view is taken that an understanding of the cultural impact on individual differences should be a vital component in the study of intercultural communication. Examples are drawn from research on general willingness to communicate, introversion, communication apprehension, and self‐perceived communication competence in several countries around the world.

Power in the classroom III: Teacher communication techniques and messages

This study is a third in a series of investigations concerned with teacher power in the classroom. The focus of this project was on the generation of an extended list of power strategies or “behavior alternation techniques”; (BATs) and representative messages (BAMs) that elementary and secondary teachers use and perceive as effective in managing student behavior. Students generated lists of universal BATs and BAMs unrestricted by hypothetical relationships or scenarios. From these lists, 18 BATs with sample BAMs were derived and submitted for examination by public school teachers. The teachers reported frequent use and perceived effectiveness of only 7 BATs. These findings suggest that teachers feel they rely primarily on reward‐type BATs and frequently use the students “audience”; to effect change. Teachers also reported that their students do not frequently employ any of those BATs to change teacher behavior. Potential predictors of differential teacher use of BATs (instructor gender, years taught, gra...

Analysis and Improvement of the Measurement of Interpersonal Attraction and Homophily

Three decades ago measures of interpersonal attraction and homophily were introduced to the field. A substantial number of research studies have been reported that employed one or more of these measures. This research was examined to evaluate their reliability and validity. It is concluded that all of these measures are reasonably reliable and valid. However, since the reliabilities have been highly variable, it was determined that improved measures should be used in the future. Second generation, revised and improved, versions of these measures are reported and recommended for future research.

Power in the classroom II: Power and learning

The primary focus of this study was to determine the degree to which use of power in the classroom is associated with cognitive and affective learning. The results, based on data from 151 teachers and 2603 of their students, indicated that perceived use of power can account for approximately 30 percent of the variance in cognitive learning and up to 69 percent of the variance in affective learning. Coercive and, to a lesser extent, legitimate power were found to be negatively associated with learning while referent, and to a lesser extent expert, power were found to be positively associated with learning. Reward power was found to have no meaningful association with learning. Recommendations for teachers, based on these results, are discussed.

Development of the nonverbal immediacy scale (NIS): Measures of self‐and other‐perceived nonverbal immediacy

In recent years nonverbal immediacy has received considerable attention from researchers concerned with instructional communication, interpersonal communication, and organizational communication. Unfortunately, the instruments used to measure nonverbal immediacy in these contexts sometimes have been problematic in terms of their reliability estimates. This research attempted to overcome this problem, or failing that, to identify the cause(s) of the reduced reliability. The research resulted in a scale with high reliability when used as either a self‐report or an other‐report measure. It was also found to be equally reliable across the contexts of instructional, interpersonal, and organizational communication. Content validity of the scale is good and an initial test of predictive validity produced a high validity correlation. Unexpected sex differences were observed in the results and these are discussed in this report.