The Relationship Between Students’ Motives to Communicate With Their Instructors and Classroom Environment

Abstract

This study examined the relationships between students’ motives for communicating with their instructors (i.e., relational, functional, participatory, excuse making, and sycophantic) and their perceptions of the classroom environment (i.e., classroom climate, classroom connectedness, and personalized education). Participants were 174 undergraduate students enrolled in several introductory communication courses at a large, Mid-Atlantic university. The results indicated that students’ self-reports of their relational, functional, participatory, and sycophantic motives to communicate with their instructors were positively related to their perceptions of the classroom environment, but students’ self-reports of their excuse-making motives were not related to their perceptions of the classroom climate. Future research should examine whether students’ motives to communicate with their instructors remain constant or whether these motives fluctuate over the course of a semester or increase or decrease based on the instructional tasks that normally occur during an instructional period.

Keywords:

• Classroom Climate
• Classroom Connectedness
• Personalized Education
• Students’ Motives for Communicating With Their Instructors

Notes

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Scott A. Myers

Scott A. Myers (Ph.D., Kent State University, 1995) is a professor in the Department of Communication Studies at West Virginia University.

Christopher J. Claus

Christopher J. Claus (M.A., University of the Pacific, 2007) is an assistant professor in the Department of Mass Communication and Communication Studies at Towson University.