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Mentoring is a trusting, developmental supervisory relationship whose success largely depends on participants' interpersonal abilities. Feedback interventions with mentees commonly present interactional challenges to maintaining that relationship, yet are integral to any teaching-learning context. In this study we examined whether and how two key, trainable teacher communication abilities--face-threat mitigation (FTM) and nonverbal immediacy--predicted students' perceptions of being mentored by a teacher. Levels of actual FTM tactics and teacher nonverbal immediacy (TNI) cues were manipulated in a feedback intervention situation on video and analyzed across a 2 × 2 design. Factorial MANCOVA analysis of perceived mentoring detected significant multivariate main effects for FTM tactics and for TNI cues, no significant two-way interaction effect between those two interpersonal variables, and differences in how TNI and FTM each contributed to predicting mentoring's four measured dimensions. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed in light of facework, approach-avoidance, feedback intervention, and leader-member exchange theories.

Paul Witt challenges every reader to make a decision in response to the question: "Will the profession follow these recommendations presented in this forum?" Will "quick and dirty" survey methods be exchanged for more complex research designs?" He cautions readers to think first before replying, warning that this is a courageous decision that will improve the validity of findings but could very well slow the research-to-publication process. Witt notes that although most of the scholars he has known do not disagree with the concept of engaging in cross-disciplinary dialogue that might produce collaborative research projects, the truth of the matter is that most of them have never followed through with such an idea. Admittedly, change is difficult, particularly when proven processes worked well in the past and helped us achieve a current level of success. However, as a former editor of "Communication Education," and having just completed an 800-page compilation of instructional research in the "Handbook of Communication and Learning," it is clear to Witt that instructional communication scholarship as we have known it in former years has passed its zenith and is in need of new inspiration. Simply put, Witt feels that communication educators must take on new directions if the sub discipline is to persist in future decades. Although it is not easy for individual scholars to change, there is great risk for instructional communication research if, collectively, communication research scholars do not change. The article concludes by Witt saying that every reader can respond to the challenges presented in this forum in one of three ways: (1) move into new areas and develop new perspectives, (2) systematically review former findings in search of new insight, or (3) continue what worked for you in the past.

Instructors routinely provide feedback for students concerning the work the students produce as part of a classroom course. Although such information is required of instructors and expected by students, the communication of feedback creates a potentially face-threatening interaction in which the student's self-esteem may be diminished and/or the instructor-student relationship may be strained. This study investigated a video instructor's attempts to mitigate such face threats by using sensitive verbal strategies combined with nonverbal immediacy cues. A 2 x 2 experimental design allowed manipulation of these two variables in higher and lower combinations and subsequent detection of a significant interaction effect between them. In the presence of higher face-threat mitigation cues and higher nonverbal immediacy cues, students attributed greater credibility to the video instructor and evaluated the instructor more highly. These findings are interpreted in light of approach-avoidance theory, which posits that people draw near to others whom they like and avoid those they dislike. Implications for classroom instructors are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study tested two theoretical models of instructor credibility as a potential mediator between instructors' classroom communication behaviors (nonverbal immediacy, enthusiasm, and homophily) and students' intentions to persist in college. Participants included 570 undergraduate students from three institutions in the South-Central United States. Results of structural equation modeling provided greater support for the partial mediation model, in which nonverbal immediacy had both direct and indirect effects on students' intent to persist, though instructor enthusiasm and homophily were fully mediated by credibility. Overall, students' perceptions of these three instructor behaviors accounted for 56% of the variance in credibility and 43% of the variance in intent to persist. Furthermore, this model proved to be invariant across ethnic groups (Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic), suggesting that these instructor communication behaviors may contribute to positive outcomes for virtually all students, regardless of ethnicity. (Contains 3 tables and 6 figures.)

This meta-analysis reviews the findings of 51 studies (N = 14,378) examining the associations among teacher credibility, teacher behaviors, and student outcomes. When all three dimensions of credibility are considered collectively (i.e., competence, trustworthiness, and caring), the cumulative evidence indicates a moderate, meaningful relationship between teacher credibility and overall outcomes (r=0.448). Similar overall effect sizes were observed for competence (r=0.481), trustworthiness (r=0.477), and caring (r=0.554), though the overall effect size for caring was greater in magnitude than that obtained for credibility measured as a single factor (r=0.294). On average, higher correlations were observed when researchers measured all three dimensions of credibility (r=0.518) than when they only measured competence and character (r=0.256). Collectively, the results highlight the unique contributions of perceived caring to the teacher credibility construct, as well as the meaningful role that teacher credibility plays in facilitating student learning. (Contains 2 tables and 3 notes.)

This study tested two models of instructor credibility as a potential mediator of instructors' prosocial communication behaviors (e.g., confirmation, clarity, and nonverbal immediacy) and students' learning outcomes. Participants included 1,416 undergraduate students from four different institutions across the United States. Results of structural equation modeling provided greater support for the partial mediation model, whereby credibility partially mediated the effects of teacher confirmation and clarity on learning outcomes, though it fully mediated the effects of nonverbal immediacy. When combined, students' perceptions of all three prosocial behaviors accounted for 66% and 57% of the variance in credibility and learning outcomes, respectively. Among the more important implications of this research is the finding that confirming behaviors and clarity have both direct and indirect effects on student learning. (Contains 6 figures and 1 table.)

This study tested two theoretical models of learner empowerment as a potential mediator of teacher power use and students' ratings of instruction. Participants included 1,416 undergraduate students from four different institutions in the United States. Results of structural equation modeling provided more support for the partial mediation model than for the full mediation model, though in the final structural model, learner empowerment failed to mediate the influence of teacher power use on students' ratings of instruction. Instead, referent, reward, and legitimate power accounted for 66% of the variance in learner empowerment, while referent, expert, and coercive power accounted for 80% of the variance in teacher evaluations. Referent power emerged as the only form of power that predicted both empowerment and evaluations. (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.)

Three studies were conducted to (a) re-examine the internal properties of Roach's Power Base Measure (PBM), (b) test the PBM for measurement invariance across different samples, and (c) develop an alternative measure of observable teacher behaviors that communicate power in the classroom. Results of Studies 1 and 2 provide some support for the PBM, as confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized item loadings for each dimension and demonstrated strong metric invariance. Aggregate scores for each dimension of the PBM, however, produced poor model fit when hypothesized to represent the latent construct of teacher power. Results of Study 3 yielded a new measure of teacher power, the Teacher Power Use Scale. Validity estimates for both measures are offered, and theoretical implications are discussed. (Contains 4 tables.)

The mission of "Communication Education" is to publish the best research on communication and learning. Researchers study the communication-learning interface in many ways, but a common approach is to explore how instructor and student communication can lead to better learning outcomes. Although scholars have long classified learning into three domains--cognitive, affective, and behavioral--it is not often that behavioral learning is investigated in instructional communication research. Thus, the focus of most of the research in instructional communication is on cognitive and affective learning. This forum explores the study of affective learning by addressing two critical questions that define the field's exploration of the topic: (1) What is affective learning?; and (2) How should we measure affective learning in instructional communication research? This forum initiates conversation on this topic. The essay presented is one of seven in this forum on the topic of affective learning. The author was introduced to affective learning by his graduate advisor and mentor, Lawrence Wheeless. In subsequent decades, instructional communication theory and methods have evolved considerably, and today the author welcomes the challenge presented by this forum to turn a thoughtful and discerning eye on the construct of affective learning. This forum has given the author the opportunity to think in new ways about his own teaching philosophy, pedagogical methods, and the impact he is having on his students. [For the other essays in this forum: (1) FORUM: Affective Learning. Affective Learning: Evolving from Values and Planned Behaviors to Internalization and Pervasive Behavioral Change, see EJ1083005; (2) FORUM: Affective Learning. Students' Affective Learning as Affective Experience: Significance, Reconceptualization, and Future Directions, see EJ1083014; (3) FORUM: Affective Learning. Reclaiming Affective Learning, see EJ1083012; (4) FORUM: Affective Learning. The Instructional Communication Affective Learning Paradox, see EJ1082997; (5) FORUM: Affective Learning. Affective Learning from a Cognitive Neuroscientific Perspective, see EJ1082999; and (6) FORUM: Affective Learning. Reconsidering the Conceptualization and Operationalization of Affective Learning, see EJ1083010.]

This investigation included two studies relating anticipatory public speaking anxiety to the nature of the speech assignment. Based on uncertainty reduction theory, which suggests that communicators are less comfortable in unfamiliar or unpredictable contexts, two hypotheses were advanced on the presumption that various types of assignments in a speech performance course do not produce the same levels of anticipatory anxiety. The hypotheses were supported in both trait and state anxiety studies, where certain differences in narrowband anticipatory speech anxiety were detected among different types of informative speeches: impromptu, extemporaneous, and manuscript reading. These findings extend the tenets of uncertainty reduction theory to the public speaking context and suggest implications for both therapeutic intervention and pedagogical application.

This report uses meta-analysis to derive correlations between the variables of teacher immediacy, cognitive learning, and affective learning. A model was constructed such that the perception of teacher immediacy, a behavior, generates an intermediate outcome of affect, a motivation, which in turn increases cognitive learning outcome. The data across all the included investigations are consistent with that model. The results suggest that high levels of teacher immediacy function as a means of increasing the motivation of a student to learn, and that such motivation increases the cognitive mastery of material.

This study examined the interaction effect of nonverbal immediacy and expected instructional technology use on students' initial reports of instructor credibility. Participants included 549 college students who were randomly assigned to one of eight scenarios depicting first-day class sessions across four levels of technology use and two levels of nonverbal immediacy. A 4 x 2 factorial MANOVA revealed a significant multivariate interaction effect for instructor credibility, as well as significant multivariate main effects for both expected technology use and nonverbal immediacy. Univariate procedures revealed that the interaction effect and both main effects were significant for all three dimensions of instructor credibility. Finally, planned cell comparisons revealed different trends among dimensions of credibility for highly immediate vs. nonimmediate instructors.

A growing number of community college faculty incorporate Internet technology into their course delivery, including the use of a supplemental Web site for classroom courses. This study employed hypothetical scenarios and experimental research design to examine students' initial perceptions of teacher credibility and their expectations for learning in the presence of and absence of a course Web site. Three hypotheses predicted that the availability of a supplemental course Web site would positively influence certain student attitudes about the instructors and expected learning in the courses, but none of the hypotheses was supported. The neutral responses of these students stand in contrast to the very positive attitudes of instructors who create such sites and deem them to be essential to successful course delivery. The article concludes with a discussion of the disparate viewpoints of students and teachers.

Presents the findings of a survey of faculty who publish course Web sites associated with their classroom courses. Reports that most instructors indicated that their goals for the Web sites have been largely achieved, and most consider the sites to be essential to a successful course design. (Contains nine references.) (CB)

Presents a study in which experimental manipulation of combinations of nonverbal and verbal immediacy allowed researchers to more precisely test these causal links in relation to recall, learning loss, and affective learning. Notes that higher verbal immediacy in the experimental manipulations, when combined with higher and lower nonverbal immediacy, was not observed to produce greater cognitive learning. (SG)

Explores the possible relationship between students' expectations for teacher nonverbal immediacy and their enrollment in a distance-learning course. Finds that distance students expected less nonverbal immediacy from telecourse teachers than on-site students expected of their teachers; and that students with previous distance-learning experience had slightly higher expectancies than those with no experience. (SR)

This meta-analysis reviews the findings of 56 studies (N = 19,745) examining the associations among family communication patterns (i.e., conversation and conformity orientations) and information-processing, behavioral, and psychosocial outcomes. When both conversation and conformity orientations are considered collectively, the cumulative evidence indicates a small, but meaningful relationship between family communication patterns and overall outcomes (r = .285). Similar overall effect sizes were observed for conversation (r = .262) and conformity orientations (r = .253), though the average effect size for conversation orientation and psychosocial outcomes (r = .460) was greater in magnitude than those obtained for information processing (r =.238) or behavioral outcomes (r = .276). Slightly larger effect sizes were observed when researchers used the Revised Family Communication Patterns scale (r = .332) as compared with the Family Communication Patterns scale (r = .261), though this difference in magnitude was statistically non-significant. Collectively, the results suggest that family communication patterns have a meaningful association with a variety of cognitive activities and relational behaviors, as well as individual well-being. Keywords: Family Communication Patterns; Conversation Orientation; Conformity Orientation; Information Processing; Conflict Behaviors; Psychosocial

Research data are used to present an expanded theoretical framework for communication fidelity by considering both basic communication fidelity and listening fidelity. Four tenets of the theory are discussed, also providing some conceptual and measurement parameters for future research.

This study examined the relationship between public speaking anxiety and physiological stress indicators at four different milestones or stages in the delivery of a public speech. Specifically, public speakers' gastrointestinal body sensations were compared at different times and across different levels of psychological trait anxiety. Results indicated significant differences in both the magnitude and the patterns of somatic responses between high- and low-trait-anxiety groupings. First, as the groups of speakers moved from anticipation to confrontation, their somatic responses changed in opposite directions. Subsequently, high-anxiety speakers reported a significant increase in stress symptoms immediately after the speech had ended, indicating anxious remorse or fear of negative evaluation. These findings provided important new information about speech anxiety patterns, particularly as they differ in high- and low-anxiety speakers.

This study examined the relationships among a public speaker's body sensations, state of mind, and anticipatory public speaking state anxiety. A negative relationship was found to exist between speaker state of mind and anticipatory public speaking anxiety, and a positive relationship was found between speaker body sensations and anticipatory public speaking anxiety. Moreover, speaker state of mind and body sensations combined to predict anticipatory public speaking anxiety. Keywords: Anxiety; Public Speaking; State of Mind; Body Sensations

This meta-analysis reviews the findings of 81 studies (N= 24,474) examining the relationship between teachers' verbal or nonverbal immediacy (or both) and students' learning outcomes. The cumulative evidence indicates meaningful correlations between teachers' nonverbal immediacy and student reports of perceived learning (r = .51) and affective learning (r = .49), but only a slight correlation with students' performance on cognitive learning measures (r = .17). Teachers' verbal immediacy was found to correlate with students' perceived learning (r = .49) and affective learning (r = .49), but again the relationship with performed cognitive learning was notably smaller (r = .06). Average effect sizes were generally smaller in experimental research designs than in survey-type research, and generally larger when verbal/nonverbal immediacy was measured as a single construct. The cumulative results of this meta-analysis confirm that teacher immediacy has a substantial relationship with certain attitudes and perceptions of students in relation to their learning, but a modest relationship with cognitive learning performance. Keywords: Immediacy; Verbal Immediacy; Nonverbal Immediacy; Teacher Immediacy; Learning; Cognitive Learning; Affective Learning; Perceived Learning; Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis reviews the findings of 74 studies (N = 14,255) examining the associations between the demand/withdraw pattern of interaction and individual, relational, and communicative outcomes. When both the individual behaviors of demanding and withdrawing and the pattern of demand/withdraw are considered collectively, the cumulative evidence indicates a moderate, meaningful relationship between demand/withdraw and overall outcomes (r=.360). Similar overall effect sizes were observed for wife demand/husband withdraw (r=.380) and husband demand/wife withdraw (r=.392), although the overall effect size for demand/withdraw patterns in studies that included distressed/clinical participants (r=.413) was greater in magnitude than that obtained for studies that included nondistressed participants (r=.345). On average, higher correlations were observed for relational (r=.423) and communicative outcomes (r=.418) than for demographic (r=.239) and well-being outcomes (r=.249). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Levels of trait anxiety and depression were examined in the context of speech assignments in an introductory communication course. Low to moderate correlations were found between anxiety and depression at each of the public speaking milestones of anticipation, confrontation, adaptation, and release. Moreover, the shapes of the patterns of depression and anxiety were significantly different, with anxiety levels falling in a monotonic linear pattern and depression levels rising after the speech had ended, indicating a quadratic pattern of change. Findings indicate that speakers' depression, like speech anxiety, is a dynamic trait that is subject to subtle changes across speech milestones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University-level conceptualizations of the teacher-scholar model usually obligate faculty members to engage in both teaching and research, yet studies demonstrate that few faculty members are concomitantly productive in both areas (Fairweather, 2002). Marsh and Hattie (2002) suggest that teaching and research may be separate constructs, explaining why only about 25% of faculty achieve the required balance. Implementation of this traditional teacher-scholar model is further complicated by various difficulties in assessing teaching competence, resulting in disproportionate reliance on research and publication as the predominant criterion in making promotion and tenure decisions. In this report, modifications to the traditional teacher-scholar model are proposed based on the work of Boyer (1990). A more compliant model is advanced that will allow faculty to teach and conduct research at a variable ratio, based on individual skills, preferences, and the needs of the supporting program. Individuals may also be allowed shift their focus, in varying degrees, at different stages in their career development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]