Creating Positive Instructor-Student Interaction

Creating Positive Instructor-Student Interaction

Introduction

In this lesson, we will explore the first of the seven principles: Good practice encourages student-faculty contact. In their original survey, Chickering and Gamson concluded “ . . . frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement.” They further noted that “ . . . faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students’ intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.

These statements suggest that two dynamics are involved in the student-instructor interactions. The first statement highlights a quantitative element: frequent contact is important. The second statement points to a qualitative element: student instructor interaction should convey a sense of caring about the student as a learner and as an individual.

Quantity: Frequency of contact

In the face-to-face environment we are interacting with our students so often, we probably do not even think much about it. Not only during class, but conversations before and after class are important parts of this interaction. Of course, we also have office hours when students can meet with us, and students are also likely to contact us by phone or email. All of this happens without a great deal of planning.

In the online environment, however, we have to be very intentional to ensure frequent contact. Most of the communication will be through email, but there are many other online components that allow student-instructor interaction. For example, we contact the entire class through announcements and we interact with students in online discussion forums. In addition, Blackboard, like most learning management systems, includes a chat room where students and instructors can chat in real time. And, of course, Blackboard Collaborate now allows instructors and students to meet online using Web cameras and audio! The ability to text students from within Blackboard is also on the horizon.

So, the technology tools are present, but before we begin using them, we need to deal with the quantitative questions. In other words, when should they be employed and how quickly should we respond to contact from students? Here are some best practices commonly encountered in research on teaching and learning online.

Initiateemail contact

Sending out an email before class begins is a good way of welcoming students and letting them know what to expect. During the semester, contact students who become inactive in the class. Also, send emails to commend students who do outstanding work on an assignment or test.

Responding to emails

Many online teachers recommend a response time of not more than 24 hours.

Be sure to let your students know your policy for response time to contact they initiate.

Announcements

Update the announcements at least once a week. In our face-to-face classes we probably give students reminders about what’s coming due every time the class meets.

Discussions

If you are using the discussion, check the discussion forum at least daily. In some cases, you may need to respond to a posting or facilitate the discussion, but you should also make sure that there are no inappropriate postings that may be offensive to others in the class.

Online Office Hours

Sometimes online instructors use the chat room or Blackboard Collaborate as an online office where students can “drop in” once a week to get answers or discuss class issues at a given time. Times for office hours and instructions for making use of the office hours should be communicated to students.

Quality of Interaction: Instructor Immediacy

In addition to the quantity of interaction, Chickering and Gamson suggested that there is a quality of interaction that creates an optimal learning environment. Later research characterized this quality of interaction as instructor immediacy. Instructor immediacy refers to perceived physical or psychological closeness between the student and instructor. Instructional immediacy is created by behavior that brings the student and instructor closer in terms of perceived distance.

In the face-to-face classroom, instructor immediacy is created by verbal and non –verbal behaviors. A typical list of non-verbal immediacy behavior includes:

• Removal of physical barriers (such as a desk separating instructor and students)
• Moving around the classroom
• Smiling at students
• Gestures
• Speaking from outline rather than reading off of PowerPoint
• Eye contact
• Professional dress

Verbal immediacy behaviors typically include:

• Calling students by name
• Use of inclusive pronouns
• Unrelated small talk (before and after class)
• Feedback to students
• Requesting feedback from students

Although these behaviors may seem secondary to the task of teaching, extensive research has demonstrated a positive correlation between instructor immediacy and cognitive and affective learning, student motivation, positive evaluations of instruction, attendance, decreased anxiety levels in students, class participation, and study time devoted to class.

The harsh reality is that while immediacy creates a climate in which learning can take place, the online classroom is at a decided disadvantage. In fact, there is a negative correlation between instructor immediacy and online. In some ways, the online technology is a “physical barrier” between the student and instructor.

Can instructor immediacy be created in the online classroom?

If you refer back to the scenario from VCU, you will notice that the new online instructor took a number of steps to encourage contact and create immediacy. Some of the steps she took included:

• Sharing biographical information including picture
• Using personalized comments (i.e. calling students by name)
• Commenting on discussions
• Web conferencing
• Adding audio and video components to the class

The scenario suggests that by planning and being intentional, we can create some degree of instructor immediacy in the online environment. Sometimes, simply paying attention to how we say things can create immediacy. Consider the following announcement:

Class:

This week you will need to complete all work in chapter 8. Remember that the quiz must be submitted by midnight on Thursday. You can also begin workingon chapter 9. Be sure to read this chapter carefully since it contains some very difficult concepts.

Finally, you should be well along with identifying your research topic. You must submit your proposed topic of research by the end of next week.

Referring to the list of verbal behaviors as well as the scenario from VCU, think about how you would rewrite the announcement to promote instructor immediacy.

Creating Immediacy with Video

Our scenario from VCU also highlights the fact that video can play an important role in creating positive student-instructor interaction. Indeed, there is no question that hearing and seeing the instructor dramatically increases instructor immediacy. With video, non-verbal communication is possible.

Blackboard includes a tool called Video Everywhere that makes it possible to add video messages to announcements, discussions, course content, journals, tests, and, well everywhere (I suppose that’s why they call it Video Everywhere).

To use this tool, you will need access to a YouTube account. If you do not have an account, you will need to create one. In some cases, academic departments may want to create their own accounts.

Once you have an account set up, you can turn on the Video Everywhere tool in Blackboard. Keep in mind, however, that when you turn on Video Everywhere, students will also be able to create video messages in discussions and assignments. In many cases, this may be desirable, but it may also mean that you need to monitor discussions more closely. In most situations, it may be a good practice to turn on Video Everywhere when you want to create a video message, and then turn it off when you have finished. Your message will still be available, but students will not be able to create video messages when the tool is switched off.

The directions for turning on Video Everywhere and creating an embedded video message are available in the instructions for this lesson as well as the assignment description.

Summary – and some words of caution

Instructor-student interaction is the foundation for everything else in your class. In some ways, the remaining principles of best practice depend on positive instructor-student interaction characterized by frequent contact and instructor immediacy. While this lesson has identified a few tools that can promote interaction, we will consider some others later in this course

As you think about student-instructor interaction in your online class, be mindful of some pitfalls.

Accessibility

While video and audio are good for 99% of our student population, you need to be aware that these tools challenge students with hearing or vision loss! If you always work from a script when recording video or audio, you will at least have a transcript that can be provided to students with hearing loss. It can also be used as a transcript for captioning video.

Be realistic

While you want to be intentional in creating instructor immediacy, you need to be mindful of what is realistic. You do not need to be available to your students 24/7, nor do you need to provide an immediate response to every email. You deserve and need your time away from the class.

Be the teacher

Your students really do not want or need you to be their BFF (best friend forever); they need you to be their mentor and teacher. Do not confuse immediacy with making everyone happy nor surrender your authority as the teacher.

Stay in your comfort zone

While self-disclosure is an important part of immediacy, you should only tell students personal information that you feel comfortable sharing. In addition, while immediacy behaviors can be learned, is they are not really a part of who we are, they may come across to students as insincere. As Oscar Wilde once said, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

Avoid Information Overload

Too much contact may be counterproductive. After a point all of us can suffer from information overload. If students are bombarded with emails and announcements, they will begin to ignore them.