Teacher Influence in the Classroom: A Preliminary Investigation of Perceived Instructor Power,Credibility, and Student Satisfaction An earlier version of this paper was presented on a program of the Communication Education interest group at the annual convention of the Central States Communication Association,Milwaukee, WI,April 2002.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived teacher power, teacher credibility, and student satisfaction. Respondents were 67 undergraduate students (30 males and 37 females) enrolled in Communication classes at a southwestern university. Students’ perceptions of their teachers’ expert, referent and reward power use were found to be positively related to their perceptions of their teachers’ competence, caring, and trustworthiness. Teacher power use contributed to the prediction of a significant amount of variance in teacher credibility. Additionally, student satisfaction was positively and significantly related to both teacher referent power and expert power. Surprisingly, students’ perceptions of coercive power were not significantly and negatively related to student satisfaction. Implications, limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Teacher nonimmediacy and misbehavior: Unintentional negative communication

This study involved the manipulation of teacher immediacy and teacher misbehaviors to determine their individual and combined impacts on perceived teacher immediacy and teacher misbehavior. Participants in the study were students enrolled in undergraduate communication classes. The results indicated that teacher nonimmediacy and teacher misbehaviors could not be manipulated independently. Analysis of variance indicated that nonimmediate teachers were perceived to be misbehaving even when no misbehaviors were induced in the experiments. It was concluded that students perceive teachers who communicate in nonimmediate ways as misbehaving.     

Communication anxiety and teacher communication competence among Native American and Caucasian students

This study compared self‐reported communication anxiety and student perceived teacher communication competence among fifth and sixth grade Native American and Caucasian students being taught by Caucasian teachers. A survey of 67 Native American and 51 Caucasian students was conducted in an elementary school located on a Northwestern reservation. Native American and Caucasian students differed significantly only on their communication anxiety associated with approaching new people. No significant difference was found on factors of communication anxiety more specific to classroom communication. Native American students perceived the teachers to have significantly less communication competence. Additionally for Native American students, perceived teacher communication competence predicted reported enjoyment of classroom communication, fear of classroom communication and willingness to approach new people. For Caucasian students perceived teacher communication competence only predicted willingness to approach new people.     

“Cool” Communication in the Classroom: A Preliminary Examination of Student Perceptions of Instructor Use of Positive Slang

This study explored participants' perceptions of instructor use of positive slang (e.g., “cool,” “awesome,” “sweet”) and its perceived impact on the classroom environment and teacher's credibility, as well as the rules governing its usage. Participants viewed a video of a positive slang-using teacher and then responded to several open-ended survey questions. The results demonstrate that students generally appreciate teacher use of positive slang and cite the potential benefits of its usage. Implications of teacher use of positive slang are discussed.     

Is Coming Out in the Classroom Still an Occupational Hazard? A Replication of Russ,Simonds, and Hunt (2002)

This project represents a replication of Russ, Simonds, and Hunt’s (2002) project that explored the influence of instructor sexual orientation disclosure on perceptions of teacher credibility and learning. Our purpose was to see if the original findings—that students perceive gay teachers as less credible and that they learn less than from a straight teacher—could be replicated in a sample of students from a different location and after more than 15 years from the original study. Employing a quasi-experimental methodology, we did not find the same result as they did: gay instructors were not rated lower in credibility and learning by the students in our sample. We provide some context and discussion around why this might be the case.     

Tattling on the Teacher: A Study of Factors Influencing Peer Reporting of Teachers who Violate Standardized Testing Protocol

Allegations of teacher and administrator cheating on standardized tests appear to be rampant. One primary way that cheating is held in check occurs when peers turn in other teachers for cheating. The purpose of this study was to exam five variables as predictors of peer reporting of this particular type of unethical behavior. Three hundred thirty (N = 330) Texas school teachers responded to a survey that included a scenario depicting another teacher violating standardized testing protocol. Results indicated no differences in reporting intentions across impression management tactics (justification vs. intimidation). However, canonical correlation results indicated that a combination of predictor variables was positively and significantly related to peer-reporting intentions. A perception of participatory culture was the primary contributor to the composite. Communication confidence and policy attitude were moderate contributors.     

I Got a New Puppy! The Impact of Personal,Opinion, and Objective Tweets on a Journalist’s and a News Organization’s Perceived Credibility

ABSTRACT

This experimental study examined the impact of posting different types of tweets on a journalist’s perceived credibility. Three-hundred-and-eighty-seven participants were randomly assigned into one of three groups. One group saw tweets from a journalist that were about the journalist’s personal life, another group saw tweets from the same journalist that were written objectively about news stories, and the third group saw tweets from the same journalist that contained the journalist’s opinion regarding news stories. Participants who read the personal tweets about the journalist’s life rated the journalist highest in perceived credibility. The perceived credibility of the journalist was ranked significantly lower by participants who read the tweets that only contained the journalist’s opinion. Participants were also asked to rate the credibility of the organization for which the journalist worked. The perceived credibility of the organization was rated significantly higher by those who read the objective tweets. Organizational credibility was rated lowest by those who read the tweets that contained the journalist’s opinion. This study has important implications for journalists who use Twitter and wish to improve their personal and organizational perceived credibility.     

Investigating Antecedents to the Experience of Flow and Reported Learning Among Social Networking Site Users

Using an online survey (N = 888), this study investigated if the experience of flow mediated the influence of perceived social networking site credibility and social capital affinity (the sense of community and likeness felt for people online) on perceived focused and incidental knowledge gain among social networking sites users. The findings indicated that flow acted as a partial mediator in this context. However, social capital affinity strongly predicted perceived social networking site credibility and flow. Both perceived social networking site credibility and flow were predictors of perceived focused learning while social capital affinity was a strong, direct predictor of perceived incidental knowledge gain in this sample.     

The effects of office aesthetic quality on students' perceptions of teacher credibility and communicator style

This study examined the effects of office aesthetic quality on students' perceptions of teacher credibility and communicator style. Ninety‐seven individuals from introductory communication courses participated in this experiment. Participants were assigned to visit either a low or a high aesthetic quality office, or to a no‐office exposure control group, prior to evaluating a videotaped sample of an instructor lecturing in a basic communication course. Results indicated that office aesthetic quality influenced participants' evaluations of teacher credibility and communicator style.     

News Stories on the Facebook Platform: Millennials’ Perceived Credibility of Online News Sponsored by News and Non-News Companies

ABSTRACT

This experimental study examined whether stories presented on Facebook that appeared to be from a news organization were rated as higher in perceived credibility than stories that appeared to be from a non-news organization. One-hundred-and-seven participants took part in the online study. One group saw stories that appeared to be from a news organization and another group saw the same stories that appeared to be from a non-news organization. Both groups rated the stories the same in terms of perceived credibility. The study also found that the higher the participants rated the stories in terms of perceived credibility, the higher they rated the organization’s perceived credibility. These findings point to potential implications for traditional journalistic outlets regarding their ability to be seen as credible, reliable online news sources—particularly through a social media platform like Facebook.     

Students’ perceptions of instructors’ socio‐communicative style and the influence on instructor credibility and situational motivation

This study investigated whether instructors with different socio‐communicative styles differed in their students’ perceptions of their credibility and their students’ Situationen motivation. Students (N = 260) completed a questionnaire on the class/instructor they had immediately before their current class. The questionnaire consisted of measures of assertiveness, responsiveness, credibility, and situational motivation. Instructors with the socio‐communicative style of competent were perceived highest in all three dimensions of credibility (expertise, character, and caring) and in students’ situational motivation. Instructors classified as noncompetent were perceived as lowest in caring and expertise, while instructors classified as aggressive were perceived as lowest in character. Additionally, situational motivation was positively correlated to all three dimensions of credibility. The results support the importance of instructors being able to display assertive and responsive communication behaviors.     

How Gender and Age Affect Newscasters' Credibility—An Investigation in Switzerland

In an experimental study conducted in Switzerland the effects of newscasters' gender and age on credibility were analyzed using a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Participants (N = 160) evaluated Swiss, German, and Austrian TV news items in terms of credibility of the newscaster and credibility of the message. News items read by female newscasters were perceived as being more credible. In contrast, male newscasters were considered to be more credible persons. Furthermore, a significant interaction between the newscasters' gender and age was observed: Age had no effect on the credibility of the younger newscasters, whereas older male newscasters were perceived as being the most credible.     

Public trust: a comprehensive investigation on perceived media credibility in China

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive investigation on perceived media credibility in China. In order to assess people's attitudes toward six media formats (television [TV], newspapers, radio, magazines, websites, and mobile devices), a series of surveys were conducted with a random sample of 5807 residents in 10 cities in China. Findings indicated that Chinese respondents perceived TV to be the most credible among all media and that TV was rated as more credible than newspapers. In addition, two official mouthpieces, China Central Television and the People's Daily, were both perceived to be highly credible. But readership in general was a nonfactor in terms of credibility. These findings challenged conventional thinking on media credibility. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Perceived Instructor Credibility and Teaching Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to examine whether perceived instructor credibility (i.e., competence, character, caring) differs based on instructor teaching philosophy. Participants were 244 students who read a short vignette describing an instructor with either a transmissive or a progressive teaching philosophy and completed the Measure of Source Credibility in reference to the vignette. Results indicate instructors with a transmissive teaching philosophy or a progressive teaching philosophy did not differ in their perceived competence, but instructors with a progressive teaching philosophy were rated higher in both perceived character and caring than instructors with a transmissive teaching philosophy. Future research should examine whether student philosophies toward education impact perceived instructor credibility.     

Usability and credibility of e-government websites

Albeit e-government has seen a steady growth, it can still benefit from a better user engagement, and usability and credibility are believed to be among the factors that influence such engagement. This paper presents an empirical study that evaluates the usability and credibility of current e-government websites and looks at user performance while using these websites. The study is based on a heuristic evaluation which aims to capture users' perception of usability and credibility. Our results show a close correlation between usability and credibility, as e-government websites with a high usability were perceived as having higher credibility, and vice versa. A number of usability and credibility weaknesses were identified on our sample of e-government websites.     

The effects of humor on perceptions of compliance‐gaining in the college classroom

The purpose of this study is to explore humor as a factor in students’ perceptions of college teacher compliance‐gaining in the classroom. Four hundred twenty‐eight college students reported the frequency of their college teachers’ uses of compliance‐gaining tactics, the frequency of humor uses with compliance‐gaining tactics, and the effectiveness of humor used with compliance‐gaining tactics. Results revealed positive and significant relationships between humor uses and uses of particular compliance‐gaining strategies. Findings suggest that students perceive teachers to use humor more frequently with certain compliance‐gaining tactics. Moreover, students reported that certain compliance‐gaining tactics are perceived as more effective than others.     

Examining the persuasive effect of statistical messages: A test of mediating relationships

The current study tested the degree to which the sample size heuristic (Baesler & Bur goon, 1994), perceived verifiability of evidence (Ah Yun & Massi, 2000), and perceived message credibility (Kopfman, Smith, Ah Yun, & Hodges, 1998) mediate the relationship between the use of statistical evidence in a persuasive appeal and a person's attitude toward a given topic. Four hundred eighty‐six participants were exposed to one of three messages (statistical, narrative, or no‐evidence control) or a no‐message control condition and completed either a 12‐ (control) or 33‐item (experimental) survey that was designed to measure respondents’ perceptions of the sample size heuristic, verifiability of evidence, message credibility, and attitude toward a year‐round academic schedule. Path analysis and hierarchical regression modeling were employed to test the proposed model. Results revealed that the perceived sample size heuristic, verifiability of evidence, and message credibility mediate the relationship between statistical evidence and individuals’ attitudes. Additionally, the perceived sample size heuristic was found to be the strongest unique predictor of attitudes and confirmatory factory analysis results indicated that perceived verifiability and message credibility may be two indicators of a higher‐order factor. These findings and their implications for future research are discussed.     

Negotiating the role of sources: Educators' conceptions of credibility in participatory media

Participatory media are commonly used in today's society for a variety of purposes. The credibility associated with these media is sometimes contested, and their acceptance into school practices has been debated. Focus group interviews with teachers and librarians in upper secondary schools in Sweden are used to investigate conceptions and experiences of activities involving the critical evaluation of participatory media, with a particular focus on Wikipedia. Three themes are addressed. The first concerns how the teaching of the critical evaluation of sources is organized and comanaged between teachers and librarians. The second describes educators' experiences of print versus digital media, and their worry because students have problems negotiating the information architecture of print media. The third theme deals with conceptions of the credibility of Wikipedia. Four conceptions of credibility are identified: credibility is associated with the control and stability of a source; it is considered to be strengthened when several sources support a claim; it is viewed as situational and partial, rather than absolute; and it is associated with a multiplicity of voices and democratic forms of production. These findings may be used to inform educational activities around credibility and authority in schools by raising self-awareness among educators of various ways to talk about the credibility of sources with both colleagues and students.     

组织支持感理论下的图书馆员职业倦怠研究

简要介绍组织支持感理论的内涵,说明组织支持感前因变量与馆员倦怠产生的关系,最后阐释了如何利用组织支持感理论解决图书馆员的职业倦怠问题。     

How can Journalists Promote News Credibility? Effects of Evidences on Trust and Credibility

ABSTRACT

With reference to the current debate about a loss of trust in news media, journalism experts in practice and research often demand that journalists should concentrate on enhancing the quality of their reporting and hence focus on facts and evidences. Building on research on trust and credibility, we investigate how the use of different forms of evidences affects the credibility and quality evaluation of news stories, as well as the reading experience from the audience’s perspective. We conducted an online experiment to detect the influence of the presence of scientific sources, statistical information, and their visualization in an online article. Our findings indicate that these evidences increase the perceived credibility. At the same time, we found that adding scientific sources, statistical data and, visualizations to an article does not lessen its reading enjoyment but improves its perceived vividness in the view of news users. Further results and implications are discussed.