Crump, C. A. (1996). Teacher immediacy: What students consider to be effective teacher behaviors. ERIC ED 390 099.
Comments: The 24-item Effects of Teacher Immediacy Questionnaire (ETIQ) measures teachers’ use of eight nonverbal and four verbal immediacy behaviors and the impact of these 12 immediacy behaviors on their students. There are two questions for each behavior. The questionnaire was developed as a result of the research examined by Gorham (1988).
Sample: The original sample consisted of 70 community college students taking communications courses who volunteered to participate in the study.
Reliability: The author states that the questionnaire has reliability.
Validity: The results of a review of the literature and prior studies with this questionnaire provide support for its face validity.
Data Analysis: The following 12 immediacy behaviors are presented in rank order in terms of the most motivating: humor, dynamic delivery, vocal variation, personal examples, friendly, eye contact, time outside of class, using “our” and “we,” learn student names, physical distance, physical appearance, and appropriate touch. Means and standard deviations are reported.
References
Christophel, D. M., and Gorham, J. (1995). A test-retest analysis of student motivation, teacher immediacy, and perceived sources of motivation and demotivation in college classes. Communication Education 44:292–305.
Gorham, J. (1988). The relationship between verbal teacher immediacy behaviors and student learning. Communication Education 37:40–53.
Sanders, J. A., and Wiseman, R. L. (1990). The effects of verbal and nonverbal teacher immediacy on perceived cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning in the multicultural classroom. Communication Education 39:341–53.
Effects of Teacher Immediacy Questionnaire
1. I tend to pay attention when an instructor makes eye contact with me.
2. I want to listen to instructors who use gestures, movement, and who have a dynamic delivery.
3. I lose interest in attending classes taught by instructors who are sloppy in their appearance.
4. I look forward to going to classes when the instructor uses humor frequently.
5. I feel comfortable in a class where the instructor smiles and is friendly.
6. It is hard for me to listen to an instructor in a monotone.
7. I tend to work harder in classes in which the instructor has learned my name.
8. I daydream in classes when an instructor fails to use good eye contact.
9. I get bored when an instructor lectures using few gestures or movements.
10. Vocal variation and vocal expressiveness in instructors aids in holding my attention.
11. When an instructor spends time with me outside of class (stays late and comes early), I tend to skip that class less than other classes.
12. I am more interested in what instructors say when they dress professionally.
13. I do not like it when an instructor uses humor in the classroom.
14. I feel a sense of belonging when an instructor uses the term “our class.”
15. Instructors that pat me on the back or use touch appropriately make me feel comfortable.
16. I tend to pay attention when an instructor walks around the room and decreases the physical distance between him- self/herself and the class.
17. I learn more when instructors give personal examples during class discussions.
18. Instructors that smile a lot and are friendly make me nervous.
19. I dislike instructors who do not learn my name.
20. I feel that it is inappropriate for instructors to use personal examples during class.
21. When an instructor touches me, I feel uncomfortable.
22. I think the instructor should keep a physical distance between themselves and their students.
23. I feel uncomfortable when instructors use words like “we” and “our” referring to the class.
24. I think that it is inappropriate for instructors to spend time with students before and after class.
Scoring: Strongly agree = 1; agree = 2; are undecided = 3; disagree = 4; and strongly disagree = 5.