A STUDY OF VERBAL IMMEDIACY IN ARMY SIMULATOR MAINTENANCE TRAINING Robin Leigh Fulkerson August 2004 48 pages Directed by: Sally Hastings, Judith Hoover, and George Musambira Department of Communication Western Kentucky University Rapid development of computer technology has encouraged the use of computers in education; however, understanding the impact this technology has on classroom communication is just beginning. At present, no studies explore the impact computer systems (e.g., virtual reality simulation) have on verbal immediacy. This study examines the influence simulator training has on verbal immediacy and quality of instruction between students and instructors in Army maintenance training. Thirty-nine Army maintenance students in simulator and instructor-based training responded to the verbal immediacy survey designed to measure the significance of instructors’ verbal immediacy behaviors as perceived by students. Overall verbal immediacy ratings were high, but no significant differences were found between instructors’ verbal immediacy behaviors in the two training types. Possible reasons for the simulator ratings are explored. A second study was performed on instructors to determine the perceived effectiveness of simulator training versus instructor-based methods. Nineteen instructors completed a questionnaire comparing the two training methods, including their communication differences. The first half of the questionnaire yielded significant results on four variables of effective simulator training: replication, adequate instruction for students, full interaction with students, and effective instruction of maintenance and repair. Simulator training was not perceived as an vii overall effective method of instruction. Thematic analysis of the second half of the questionnaires provided comparisons of simulator and instructor-based training, focusing on reasons for effectiveness, problems with simulator training, and communication and other differences in the two methods.

The purpose of this research was to examine instructor verbal immediacy behaviors in virtual classrooms and their effects on student motivation and affective learning. Undergraduate students were divided into two treatment samples. Each group was asked to imagine they were enrolled in an online course and were reading the course homepage. Two different homepages were constructed using verbal immediate vs. nonimmediate items similar to those described by Witt & Wheeler (2001). Semantic differential-type instruments similar to that used by Richmond ( 1990) were administered to evaluate participants' state motivation and affective learning. Although no reliable effects on state motivation were discovered, the results suggest a possible interaction effect between sex and immediacy with regard to affective learning.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of student motivation and perceived online social presence in an online course. Better understanding of the relationship between online social presence and motivation would assist researchers to identify and develop effective instructional strategies for the success of students' online learning experience. This study was conducted during the Fall 2007 semester at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida. Data for this study were collected from participating students enrolled in three online sections of EME 2040, Introduction of Educational Technology. In this course, pre-service teachers learn how to use technology and, more importantly, how to integrate it into their courses and their future classrooms. Three instruments were used in this study to obtain students' demographic information and to measure students' online social presence feeling, students' motivation levels, and instructors' verbal immediacy behaviors. Data were analyzed using repeated measure and multiple linear regression analysis. Seventy-four students from three online sections of EME 2040 responded to the study. Results suggested that students' level of online social presence increased significantly from the beginning of the semester to midterm and then dropped back to the original level from midterm to the end of the semester. However, the level of student motivation significantly increased only from the beginning of the semester to midterm and remained at same level for the rest of the semester. There were significant correlations between online social presence and student motivation across the semester. The regression analysis indicated that verbal immediacy affected online social presence significantly. Further research should be conducted with a larger sample and with different types of online courses in different academic settings and course management systems. Causal relationship between online social presence and student motivation should be explored. Instructional strategies should be established to enhance students' online social presence.

This study seeks to explore an understudied population, Middle Eastern students, in the area of instructional communication. Of particular interest, the study seeks to understand how Middle Eastern students’ view their Western instructors’ verbal and nonverbal immediacy. The literature review establishes a conceptualization for verbal and nonverbal immediacy and the relationship between immediacy and gender, and immediacy and culture. Expectancy violations theory is used to understand the phenomena from an expectancy violations perspective and Hofstede’s dimensions will be used in an instructional context to understand how Middle Eastern students’ culture may influence students’ expectations. This study uses a mixed method approach to create a holistic views of Middle Eastern students’ expectations and expectancy violations. The survey method seeks to understand Middle Eastern students’ expectation for instructor verbal and nonverbal immediacy, and email responses seeks to understand expectancy violations and cultural influence on student expectancies. The results of the study show that Middle Eastern students view verbal and nonverbal immediacy as important factors in the student-teacher relationship and cultural factors play a role in students’ expectations.

In a regular classroom setting, a more emotionally expressive teacher has been shown to be positively correlated with learning outcomes and task motivation among the students. Would this also be the case if the teacher were a robot? This study investigates how the facial expressions of an anthropomorphic robot affect learning outcomes and task motivation in adult learners studying a second language by setting up an experiment using the Furhat robot. The same interactions were carried out by an experiment group and a control group. The results show no increase in performance in either learning outcomes or task performance. Future studies are suggested to investigate other potential factors of why robots outperform regular computers in these settings. / I ett vanligt klassrumssammanhang har det visats att lärare som visar känslouttryck har en positiv korrelation med läranderesultat och motivation hos studenterna. Skulle detta också vara fallet om läraren var en robot? Den här studien undersöker hur ansiktsuttrycken hos en människoliknande robot påverkar läranderesultat och motivation hos vuxna studenter som lär sig ett andraspråk genom ett experiment med roboten Furhat. Samma interaktioner genomfördes av både en experimentgrupp och en kontrollgrupp. Resultaten visar ingen ökning av varken läranderesultat eller motivation. Framtida studier föreslås att undersöka andra potentiella faktorer som bidrar till att robotar utpresterar människor i dessa sammanhang.

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