Teacher immediacy Essay Example

Teacher immediacy Paper Immediacy can be described as psychological and physical closeness to another human (Gorham, 1988). Traditionally, immediacy has two components, non verbal and verbal. Non-verbal immediacy behaviors have been categorized into items such at smiles, eye contact, communicating at short distances, body positions that are forward leaning and/or relaxed, positive gestures, touch, and variety in vocalizations (Christophel, 1990; Kearney, Plax, Smith, Sorenson, 1988). Verbal immediacy would include self-disclosure, use of we, calling on students by name, and humor (Gorham, 1988; Kearney et al. , 1988). It is clear that teacher immediacy impacts teacher effectiveness, student motivation, and student learning (Gorham, 1988; Rodriguez, Plax, Kearney, 1996). What is unclear is the link between teacher immediacy, perceived teacher gender, and student willingness to participate. For this study, the variable of instructor nonverbal and verbal immediacy behaviors will be student reported on a 34-item measure (Christophel, 1990). Perceived Gender of the Instructor Because the students will report on the gender traits of the instructor, this variable is labeled as perceived gender. Sex and gender are not terms that are interchangeable today in communication research (Campbell, Gillaspy, Thompson, 1997). The term sex usually refers to biological differences between women and men while gender often refers to the social, psychological, and cultural beliefs humans have about themselves as being male or female (Pearson Davilla, 2001). We will write a custom essay sample on Teacher immediacy specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Teacher immediacy specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Teacher immediacy specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer For this study, gender is defined as the sex type of a person based on the degree to which that person has internalized the traits the society has deemed as masculine and feminine, and these masculine and feminine traits are delineated by the BSRI based on a judgment as to whether American society viewed those characteristics as more desirable in men and women, respectively (Bem, 1974). As educational communication researchers, we are interested in the extent to which our students have internalized societys standards for being masculine or feminine and how this internalization impacts how students conceptualize and categorize teacher gender traits. One way to measure perception of sex roles is to use the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) created by Sandra Bem (1974). The BSRI treated masculinity and femininity as two separate dimensions and asked respondents to self-rate from a list of personality traits (Auster Ohm, 2000). Each respondent would be classified into one of four groups: androgynous (high masculine/high feminine), masculine (high masculine/low feminine), feminine (low masculine/high feminine), and undifferentiated (low masculine/low feminine) (Pearson Davilla, 2001; Wheeless, Dierks-Stewart, 1981). In the original study, Menzel and Carrel (1999) found no significant relationship between the biological sex of instructors and student willingness to participate. What is unclear is both the relationship between perceived teacher gender and student willingness to participate and the relationship between perceived teacher gender and teacher immediacy behaviors. For this study, the variable of perceived gender of the instructor will be student reported on a 20-item BSRI. Willingness to Talk Student willingness to talk is an important component of the classroom environment, but unfortunately it is rare for the majority of students participate in whole class discussion (Green, 2000) Oral student participation is linked to active learning (Steinert, Snell, 1999), and instructors use class discussions to develop critical thinking skills (Garside, 1996) and to improve student communication competence (Zorn, 1991). Furthermore, student in-class speech is often a way that teachers gauge their pedagogical effectiveness, and instructors also use student speech to evaluate student learning (Cooper, 1995). Despite the importance of student speech in student learning, in a discussion setting that incorporates thirty-five students or less, 15 percent of the students will be responsible for 75 percent of all student speech (Green, 2000). Because of this disparity in student participation, it is important to study variables that could influence student willingness to speak. Menzel and Carrel (1999) found the level of student willingness to talk to be positively correlated with student learning; they also argued that classroom dialogue is important to study because it is a reflection of effective instruction. When measuring willingness to talk in class, it seems reasonable to accept Menzel and Carrels (1999) incorporation of the variables of student interest and state motivation, type of participation environment, seating arrangement, and level of discord with ideas discussed, especially since the researchers statistically evaluated their instrument for internal validity and found these variables valuable in studying student willingness to talk. For this study the variable of student willingness to talk in class is self-reported on a 19-item measure incorporating the aforementioned variables (Menzel Carrel, 1999). Purposes and Objectives This study seeks to replicate portions of the original study done by Menzel and Carrell (1999), with biological sex being replaced by gender of instructor, which is defined as psychological gender traits and student reported on the shortened BSRI. As previously discussed, research has positively correlated teacher immediacy behaviors with student willingness to talk (Menzel Carrell, 1999). Previous research has not investigated two potential relationships: between student willingness to talk and perceived instructor gender traits, and between instructor immediacy behaviors and perceived instructor gender traits. Hypothesis and Research Questions: H1: A students willingness to talk in class will positively vary based on instructor immediacy behavior (verbal and nonverbal combined in one variable). RQ1: Will a students willingness to talk in class vary as a function of the student reported perceived gender of the instructor? RQ2: Is there a relationship between instructor immediacy behavior (verbal and nonverbal combined in one variable) and student reported perceived gender of the instructor? With regard to our data set, we surveyed community college students while Menzel and Carrell (1999) surveyed university students. Given the differences between the educational plans of some community college students and the educational plans of university students, we wondered if length of planned education could impact how students reported on the three variables of our study. With this in mind, we posed a final research question.

How to Organize Your Essay on Europe Essay Topics

How to Organize Your Essay on Europe Essay TopicsWhether you are writing a paper for a college, or something else entirely, knowing what to write about and why can help you write a much better essay. Europe essay topics can be pretty diverse, and it is easy to start off with topics that are not properly researched or well thought out. It can also be hard to make it through all of the material on the first day, so it is important to organize and be organized. Below are some tips to help you organize your essay and be more successful.Write a European story. Your Europe essay should tell a good story. It should give insight into the countries, and show how they relate to one another. Be sure to consider your audience when you are writing your European essay. If you are writing it for a student in college, be sure to keep the details of your story realistic. Do not write about a trip to Paris as a way to relate to an audience of high school students, and make sure that you respect that l evel of detail.Consider a time line. Your Europe essay should start at the beginning and take you through a story that shows you how things changed and how they continue to change. It is okay to outline your story, but it is much better to make it concrete and include some pictures and examples to illustrate how things have changed. Make sure that you use the time line to help you to better connect the dots, and to highlight changes that are important.Encourage discussion, rather than telling someone what a real problem is. Many people who attend college or graduate school spend most of their time studying the history of Europe, and while that is a good thing, it is also important to get them thinking about things that are going on in the world today. Instead of just telling them that there is a problem, include examples of how things are changing in the world and make them think about what they can do to help.You do not have to make everything about Europe, though. Make it about a way that you have learned about the culture or place that you are studying. For example, if you are studying contemporary Canada, you can talk about the issues in that country, and why you think it is being presented in the wrong way.Divide your essay into two or three separate topic areas. This way, you can focus on each topic individually and use that information to create a unique and interesting point. You may want to take notes on each topic, but you can read through the whole essay together to take in your main points together. It can be a helpful process to share the points, but do not have the focus of the essay take away from the quality of the points.Document your essay. If you are taking notes about a particular country, it is easy to forget to make notes on certain things. This will become even more of a problem if you are writing an essay about more than one country. Make sure that you document the different countries you have written about to help yourself remember the se details and can refer back to them later.As you can see, organizing Europe essay topics can be quite difficult, but if you are organized, it can help you make more focused points. Keep your writing simple, and avoid over-generalizing, and be sure to organize it well to make it more effective. Europe essay topics can be quite diverse, but they can be made easier to write by making them focused and organized.