Learners’ Perceptions of Instructional Immediacy In a WebCT Online Graduate Study Program Sherri Melrose PhD, RN

Presented at the CADE Connecting in the Global Village Conference Canadian Association of Distance Education May 15, 2007 in Winnipeg MB

What is Immediacy? Affective expression of emotional attachment/closeness to another person Construct was first developed by social psychologist Mehrabian in the 60’s grounded on the premise that individuals are drawn toward persons they like, evaluate highly & prefer.

Immediacy is about feeling close emotionally

What Teaching Behaviors Demonstrate Immediacy? Non verbal smiling laughing leaning closer nodding walking around appropriate touch Verbal subtle variations in language - “we” or “our” statements rather than “you” or “your”

What teaching behaviors do not?

Immediacy Online How can instructors project an affect of warmth & friendliness in the absence of non verbal cues?

Research Approach Naturalistic Action Research Design Constructivist Theoretical Perspective Data Collected 10 interviews 2 focus groups Convocation 2005 Member checks to confirm trustworthiness Analyzed for themes by 2 researchers

Findings: Instructional Immediacy Behaviors our Students Appreciated Model engaging & personal ways of connecting Maintain collegial relationships Honor individual learning accomplishments

Theme 1:Model engaging & personal ways of connecting Include personal/professional info “As a teacher, I would suggest that you talk about yourself, a little about the human aspects of you as a person - it just makes it more personable than artificial”

“The instructors I felt comfortable with set the stage [in their introductions] about who they were. That was very important to me to have a sense of who they were, their family, where they graduated from, what their work experience was, what their day was like, that sort of thing” “The teachers that took time to introduce themselves and talk about their interests... ‘I have a dog,’ ‘I live here’ and established humanness really made a difference “

Include pictures “ My first instructor posted a picture of herself, which I appreciated. This was actually a real person at the end of the line, somebody we could really connect with ” “One of the instructors did a profile of everybody. [She collected] pictures and information about everyone in the class and gave us a document”

Use students’ names in messages “For people like me, not from Canada, I was glad when instructors attempted to learn my name & use it” Personalize welcome messages “Welcome Lana, nice to have you from Toronto, you bring a lot to us because of your focus and where you work.” Small thing... but [the instructor] recognized and read [my introduction]. Just a general ‘welcome to the class’ isn’t nearly as personal”

Theme 2: Maintain Collegial Relationships “The one thing I remember about the course wasn’t the content of the material; it was the instructor saying ‘tell me what you do to keep yourself healthy – what is your wellness plan?’ So, an interest in me outside of my academia and wanting to actually make me a better person really stuck in my head”

Collegial Language “To journey with” “To learn together” “Might you consider?” “How could you explore?”

Prompt Responses “Getting s answered promptly from the professors, that was wonderful.... Having confirmation that papers I submitted were received right away. Knowing where the instructors were, if they were out of town at a conference and couldn’t get back to you right away, that promoted collegiality, I could respect their time”

Re-direct social conversation from forums to the coffee room Include poems, metaphors & tasteful humor Private ‘checking-in’ s “ So, how are you? Are you doing OK? Is the course too overwhelming? I’m feeling that you are struggling here? ”

Theme 3: Honor Individual Learning Accomplishments Equal public recognition in forums “If you don’t get mentioned – you think what’s wrong with my work?” Detailed private feedback “When someone takes the time to really explain how you can do something better, to me - that’s caring!”

Balanced responses to mark issues “…thinking I should be making 90% or above at least in all my courses [an instructor helped] focus, get me back on track and remember that this is education and learning – not just achieving high marks”

Share Resources “When an instructor would say – ‘I’ve read an article about that in such & such spot, you might acknowledge it’ or ‘have you heard of this book’ – sharing resources like that lent a good feeling”

Lessons Learned Translating the social psychology construct of immediacy to our work in online education is valuable–students’ engagement can be related to feeling emotionally close to their teachers Gentle words suggesting shared ownership are powerful-especially in absence of non verbal behavioral cues

Next Steps Extend these findings to examine instructional immediacy behaviors that help facilitate online learning with other student groups Gather instructional strategy “tips” to create a guide for teachers new to online graduate study