This study examined various aspects of Communicator Style within a sample (n = 28) of college-level teachers aged 64 to 75. The purpose of the investigation was to generate descriptive data about the observed communication behaviors of educators in this age group by comparing teachers' self reports with students' (n = 645) assessments of their teacher's style. Teachers who participated from Florida State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, and the University of West Florida selected one of their classes to serve as volunteers. During the last four weeks of the same semester, teachers and students completed the Teacher Communicator Style survey and answered demographic and background information questions. Teachers additionally responded to a measure ("Teacher Communicator Style-Time Series") which elicited responses to changes in Communicator Image over their college teaching career based upon the respondent's recollections. These instructors also answered an open-ended question which asked them to identify any changes in communication style that had occurred over their career. Findings showed the following: teachers and students differed significantly on three of the eleven style subconstructs (Dramatic, Attentive, Friendly); students assigned higher ratings to teachers more often than teachers assigned to themselves; teachers' Communicator Image (scores obtained from the respondent's recollections of past behaviors) peaked 10 years ago and reached a plateau thereafter; female students assigned higher style ratings to teachers more often than male students; and graduate students rated teachers higher than did undergraduates. Other findings related to style emerged around the instructor's orientation toward teaching or research. Results showed that instructors oriented toward teaching received higher style scores on the Open and / Impression Leaving subconstructs than those oriented toward research. Overall, the results suggest that there is more congruity than incongruity between the self-reported style ratings of older teachers and assessments given by their students. Responses to an open-ended question provided additional data on teachers' perceptions of change in their communicator style across their college teaching career. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-12, Section: A, page: 4144. / Major Professor: James C. Moore. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76555 |
| Contributors | Andrews, Deborah Brunson., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 164 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
Page generated in 0.0144 seconds