Are Student Self-Reports a Valid Method for Measuring Teacher Nonverbal Immediacy?

Abstract

Abstract This project was undertaken to address the question of whether student reports are a valid way to measure teacher nonverbal immediacy. In response to concerns about psychometric shortcomings of available immediacy measures, Study 1 was conducted to refine the items used to measure teacher immediacy. The resulting set of 8 items, Nonverbal Immediacy in College Classroom Instruction (NICCI), has two correlated factors: affiliation and animation. In Study 2, student reports of teacher immediacy using the NICCI were compared with observer-coded videotapes of the instructors. The results showed a nonsignificant association (r=−.15) between student reports and coded observations. These findings fail to support the common presumption that student reports are a valid way to measure teacher immediacy behaviors. Keywords: Nonverbal ImmediacyTeacher BehaviorsStudent Perceptions Acknowledgments The authors thank Greg Armfield, Josh Atkinson, Lindsay Cook, Amy Daulton, Maria Dixon, Kris Drumheller, Tessa Pfafman, and Jon Ralls for contributions to the preparation of this manuscript. Notes 1. One new measure of immediacy is Richmond, McCroskey, and Johnson's (Citation2003) NIS. We could not consider using it for student reports because it was published after our data were collected. However, all the items in the NIS (except touch) were accounted for in our item pool. At 26 items, the NIS is longer than existing measures, whereas our goal was to have a shorter measure. Additional informationNotes on contributorsMary-Jeanette Smythe M. J. Smythe (PhD, Florida State University, 1973) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri-Columbia Jon A. Hess Jon A. Hess (PhD, University of Minnesota, 1996) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri-Columbia