Educational Seduction

Abstract

Critics have referred to the influence of an instructor’s personality on student ratings of instruction as the “Dr. Fox effect” or “educational seduction.” In reviewing earlier research, we found inconsistencies from study to study and conducted a meta-analysis to attempt an empirical integration of this literature. Overall, we found that instructor expressiveness had a substantial impact on student ratings but a small impact on student achievement. In contrast, lecture content had a substantial impact on student achievement but a small impact on student ratings. We discuss these findings and offer a new interpretation of the implications of the educational seduction literature for the validity of student ratings

Effects of Teacher Clarity and Nonverbal Immediacy on Student Learning, Receiver Apprehension, and Affect

“…The positive outcomes associated with immediate teaching are numerous, and include increases in student affect for course material and instructors (Frymier, 1994;Richmond, 1990;Titsworth, 2001b), less decline in affect after encountering an instructor (Titsworth, 2001b), increased state motivation to learn (Christophel, 1990;Richmond, 1990), increased perceptions of self-control (Perry & Penner, 1990), higher ratings of instruction (Abrami, Leventhal, & Perry, 1982), increased perceptions of cognitive learning (Christophel, 1990;Richmond, 1990), and retention of course material (Kelley & Gorham, 1988;Messman & Jones-Corely, 2001;Perry & Penner, 1990;Witt & Wheeless, 2001). A more extensive review of the benefits of nonverbally immediate teaching is provided by Chesebro and McCroskey (1998).…”

Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research

“…As field studies, they were well-controlled and very strict methodologically. Many other studies were equally well-controlled and used strict methodology (see, for example, Perry et al, 1979;Abrami, Leventhal, & Perry, 1982), but they used staged teaching simulations rather than naturally-occurring instructor behavior (see critique of the Doctor Fox studies in this chapter). 2.…”

“…Abrami et al (1982) eventually published an article entitled "Educational seduction," in which they meta-analyzed a dozen Doctor Fox studies. They concluded that instructor expressiveness had a substantial impact on student ratings but a small impact on student achievement.…”

“…Today, following the various methodological and design criticisms and in light of the numerous studies that examined Doctor Fox effects under various reality conditions (see Perry et al, 1979;Abrami et al, 1982), the original Doctor Fox argument is consensually rejected. Under reality conditions in regular university courses, it is not likely that a charismatic and entertaining instructor would receive high course evaluations if the presentation was devoid of any intellectual input and learning content.…”

Selling the story: Narratives and charisma in adults with TBI

“…In these studies the authors manipulated factors such as monetary compensation and whether the participant knew he or she would be tested on the content, and the results showed how important the Dr Fox effect may be in the specific context of a narrative. Overall, the authors found that the instructor’s expressiveness had a significant impact on student ratings of teacher effectiveness but not on student achievement, whereas lecture content had an impact on achievement but not ratings [47]. The greatest effect on ratings was seen when there was no external motivation to learn, such as money or testing [48]; that is, the instructor’s performance had the greatest effect in contexts most like everyday narratives: where the interlocutor is not being either paid to listen or tested on the content.…”