Teacher socio‐communicative style as a correlate of student affect toward teacher and course material

Abstract

Students’ perceptions of “teacher misbehaviors”; may be related to teacher's socio‐communicative style (i.e., assertiveness and responsiveness), type of instructor (graduate assistant versus professor), and affect for teacher and course material. Four hypotheses were confirmed, indicating an inverse relationship between perceptions of teacher misbehaviors and 1) teacher assertiveness, 2) teacher responsiveness, 3) positive affect for the teacher, and 4) positive affect for the course material. Perceptions of teacher misbehaviors did not covary with type of instructor. Teachers’ socio‐communicative styles may dramatically affect student perceptions of teachers and course material. Specific misbehaviors are ranked according to apparent influence on student affect.

Keywords:

• socio‐communicative style (assertiveness and responsiveness)
• teacher misbehaviors
• instructor type
• student affect for teacher
• student affect for course material