|
Article Excerpt
Immediacy behaviors enhance perceptions of closeness to others. In traditional and online college courses, instructor immediacy predicts student reports of learning and motivation. Student immediacy is theoretically also important in any learning community. However, there is little research on cyber-student immediacy as a predictor of course outcomes, and studies to date have focused on asynchronous, rather than synchronous, class communications. We rated 14 immediacy indicators in synchronous chat responses, with moderate to high reliability. Student immediacy was not related to examination performance, but the immediacy behavior of support was positively correlated with changes in pre- to post-course test scores. We discuss implications for measuring online immediacy, and for designing online learning communities.
**********
Immediacy is defined as behavior that enhances perceptions of closeness to others (Andersen, 1979; Wiener & Mehrabian, 1968). Nonverbal immediacy behaviors include eye contact, touch, relaxed posture, and smiling (Mehrabian, 1969). Verbal immediacy behaviors include addressing others by name, emotional expression, acknowledgement, and self-disclosure (Gorham, 1988; Wiener & Mehrabian, 1968).
Immediacy has been studied extensively in traditional college classrooms. Most investigators have used student reports (e.g., Frymier & Thompson, 1995; Robinson & Richmond, 1995) to measure both instructor immediacy and criterion variables such as motivation, learning, attitude toward course content, and course satisfaction (Andersen, 1979; Christensen & Menzel, 1998; Frymier, 1994; Gorham, 1988; Moore, Masterson, Christophel, & Shea, 1996; Richmond, Gorham, & McCroskey, 1987). These studies indicate that instructor immediacy has a positive impact on the educational experience--at least as measured by students' subjective impressions. However, in two separate investigations, Andersen and colleagues (1979; Andersen, Norton, & Nussbaum, 1981) did not find a relationship between perceived teacher immediacy and actual course performance.
Recently, attention has turned to the role of immediacy, or social presence, in creating effective online learning communities (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2001; LaRose & Whitten, 2000; Picciano, 2002; Swan, 2002). Social presence and immediacy are virtually identical constructs, each referring to perceived salience or closeness of the other in social interactions (Rourke, Anderson, Garrison, & Archer, 2001). Garrison et al. (2001) proposed a model in which social presence, along with cognitive and teaching presence, is a core component of learning in the online "community of inquiry." The potential for assessing text communications that enhance verbal immediacy, or social presence, is expanded by online course technology, which records all synchronous and asynchronous communication among class members. In such classrooms, achievement of educational goals would theoretically involve immediacy behaviors of co-learners and instructors, and immediacy could be an intraindividual or situational variable (Picciano, 2002).
At least three studies have shown that verbal immediacy is associated with positive outcomes in online college courses, (1) as least as far as student perceptions are concerned. Arbaugh (2001) surveyed students in 25 web-based MBA courses, using Gorham's (1988) verbal immediacy scale, and found that greater verbal immediacy on the part of the instructor, as reported by students, predicted greater course satisfaction and perceived learning. Baker (2004) used the same scale in a study of 145 graduate students enrolled in online courses, and found that students who rated their instructors as more verbally immediate reported more positive affect toward the course content, and greater perceived learning. Picciano (2002) used a measure of general class "presence," and found that student ratings of the quality of course interaction were related to perceptions of learning and to scores on written assignments, but not to test scores.
Rourke et al. (2001) and Swan (2002) performed content analyses of cyber-students' asynchronous communications, and used affective, interactive, and cohesive immediacy indicators to describe patterns in student interaction. However, neither of their studies included assessment of student immediacy as an intraindividual correlate of learning outcomes. Nor did they assess immediacy in synchronous chat discussions, which may be more spontaneous, and thus more motivational, than asynchronous discussions (Newlin & Wang, 2002). Evidence for chat communication as a predictor of online class performance is provided by Wang, Newlin, and Tucker (2001), who performed a discourse analysis of chat in an online statistics class. Although they did not assess immediacy, they found that frequency and certain forms of chat interaction predicted final grades.
Picciano (2002) concluded that there is sufficient evidence that qualities of online interaction affect perceptions of learning, but cautioned that perceptions are not equivalent to actual achievement. He recommended that "multiple measures related to individual academic program and course objectives be used" (Picciano, 2002, p. 25) to examine the role of online interaction variables in course outcomes. Picciano (2002) also emphasized that interaction and social presence are not the same constructs, and may affect learning independently: "it is possible for a student to interact by posting a message ... while...
|
