Instructional immediacy in the Chinese quantitative reasoning classroom

Abstract

The present investigation examined instructor immediacy behaviors, students' perceptions of those behaviors, and student math anxiety in Chinese classrooms. Consistent with the American college classroom, a simple causal chain was anticipated in which instructor immediacy behaviors positively induced a psychological response to immediacy, which had a negative influence on math anxiety. Study 1 tested this model in the Chinese college classroom and the model failed. It was speculated that perhaps given the high testing admission standards of Chinese colleges (i.e., the GaoKao), that Chinese college students were a biased sample of only students who had learned to manage their anxieties. Thus, in Study 2, the model was retested among junior and senior high Chinese students. Among junior and senior high Chinese students, the model fit well.

Student Predispositions as Predictors of Dissent Behaviors in Supply Chain Courses*

“…Consistent with expectations, the data confirmed that student self‐efficacy does positively relate to the amount of perceived immediacy they feel with their instructor (Hypothesis 1). Furthermore, data were also consistent with student math anxiety relating negatively to perceived immediacy (Hypothesis 2), as observed in previous studies (Kelly et al., 2015; Kelly et al., 2018a). Thus, students who possess a strong belief in their abilities to perform well in a supply chain related course and who experience lower math anxiety will perceive greater psychological closeness (perceived immediacy) with their instructors.…”

“…Previous work on math anxiety and classroom communication have identified math anxiety as a result of instructional communication through the mediation of perceived immediacy (Kelly et al., 2015; Kelly et al., 2018a). Notably, these studies collected cross sectional data, like the present study.…”

“…Kelly et al., (2015) found that instructor's displays of immediate behaviors served as an intervention for math anxiety through the mediation of perceived immediacy amongst American college students in quantitative classrooms. Kelly, Liu, Denton, Lee, and Croucher (2018a) also found that instructor immediate behaviors, again through the mediation of perceived immediacy, served as an intervention for math anxiety in Chinese quantitative reasoning classrooms at the middle and high school levels.…”

The Effect of Instructors’ Immediate Behaviors and Clarity on Student Writing Apprehension

“…Yet, immediate behaviors are not a universal fix for the classroom for two reasons. First, immediate behaviors are specific to culture (Kelly, Liu, Denton, Lee, & Croucher, 2018). This means, as an example, that the same behaviors that reduce psychological distance between a U.S. instructor and a U.S. student, such as eye contact, may increase psychological distance between a U.S. instructor and a Chinese student.…”

“…Perceived immediacy has been found to mediate the relationship between instructors' communicative behaviors and students' intrinsic motivation (Kelly et al, 2015) and affective learning (Kelly, Drye, & Williamson, 2018). It has also been found to be a mediator between instructors' immediate behaviors and students' math anxiety (Kelly et al, 2015;Kelly, Liu, et al, 2018). Instructor clarity, while found to positively correlate with the amount of perceived immediacy an instructor has with a student (Violanti et al, 2018), has never been tested as a potential induction of perceived immediacy.…”