The Effect of Peer and Online Sources on Student Course Selections and Impressions of Prospective Teachers

Abstract

Students may learn about prospective teachers and obtain information about them by communicating with peers and/or conferring with online teacher rating systems such as RateMyProfessors.com. Drawing on media richness theory, artificial scenarios (Study 1) and recall prompts (Study 2) compared the effects of these information sources on how students select courses and form teacher impressions. The results showed that the valence of the information students received affected their course selection decisions and impressions about the prospective teacher. However, the two sources did not differ in their effects. Study 3 found that using multiple sources of information affected students above and beyond any single source alone. The results highlight and draw implications regarding the effect of these information sources in the higher education environment.

Keywords:

• ICT Succession Theory
• Media Richness Theory
• Prospective Teachers
• RateMyProfessors.com
• Student Course Enrollment
• Teacher Evaluations
• Teacher Impression
• Teacher Ratings

Notes

One possible concern involves the use of alternative channels (e.g., Facebook, text) when students indicate friends or classmates as main sources. Although students may have communicated using multiple channels (e.g., FtF and Facebook), such a proposition does not eliminate the channel capabilities delineated by media richness theory (feedback, multiple cues, personal focus, and language variety) in communication among peers. Students who communicate with their peers can receive feedback to negotiate the equivocality they experience, an inherently absent property in RMP.The survey design also provided participants with the opportunity to input alternative communication channels. When indicating the Internet sources, participants could have selected an “other” category and described the source in an open-ended response. Similarly, participants may have indicated that they utilized a source different from the sources provided (Internet, Friends/Classmates, Advisor/Another Teacher). The responses in the “other” category involved only course catalogs or online course schedules. The inclusion of these categories and the responses received in the survey suggests that students were unlikely to have alternative mediated channels in mind when indicating the source of information about teachers.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yuhua (Jake) Liang

Yuhua (Jake) Liang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Chapman University.

Arleen R. Bejerano

Arleen R. Bejerano is an Instructor in the Department of Communication Studies at Chapman University.

Patricia Kearney

Patricia Kearney is a Professor Emerita of the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, Long Beach.

Mary B. McPherson

Mary B. McPherson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, Long Beach.

Timothy G. Plax

Timothy G. Plax is the Director of the Hauth Center for Communication Skills and Professor Emeritus of the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, Long Beach.