Lack of lecturer clarity during instruction: Possible reason for poor throughput?
Abstract
In South Africa, students’ academic success in tertiary environments is generally low, despite governmental or institutional interventions. This article, underpinned by the General Model of Instructional Communication by McCroskey, Valencic and Richmond (2004), explores participant lecturers’ perceptions of lecturer clarity during instruction, and their students’. A mixed methods case study was conducted, with a convenience sample of seven lecturers, interviewed and observed in situ. Questionnaires were completed by 252 first year students at a South African university of technology. Content and statistical analysis of the data revealed that a mismatch existed between lecturers’ perceptions of their own instructional clarity and their students’. The high percentage of students who felt lost during a lecture suggests a high level of instructional dissonance (Evans, 2005) which might account for a less-than desirable academic throughput. We recommend that institutions quality assure lecturers’ oral, written, content and process clarity prior to and during appointment.
References
References
Adams, C., and R. Pierce. 2004. Characteristics of effective teaching. In Traditions and innovations: Teaching at Ball State University.
Anderson, L. W. 2002. "Curricular alignment: A re-examination." Theory into Practice no. 41 (4):255-260.
Bowker, M. H. 2010. "Teaching students to ask questions instead of answering them." Thought & Action:127.
Boyer, T.A., B.C. Briggeman, and F.B. Norwood. 2009. "Demand for multimedia in the classroom." Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics no. 41 (3):791-808.
Brown, C., and J. Tenny. 2004. Use of electronic observation tools: Improving classroom teacher effectiveness through data driven supervision. Paper read at Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference.
Bulger, S.M., D.J. Mohr, and R.T. Wall. 2002. "Stack the deck in favour of your students by using the four aces of effcetive teaching." Journal of Effective Teaching no. 5 (2).
Business management daily. 7 rules for PowerPoint simplicity. Capitol Investment Group Inc. 2015 [cited 9 April 2015. Available from http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/5880/7-rules-for-powerpoint-simplicity
Chesebro, J. L., and J. C. McCroskey. 1998. "The development of the Teacher Clarity Short Inventory (TCSI) to measure clear teaching in the classroom."
Communication Research Reports no. 15 (3):262-266.
Chesebro, J. L., and J. C. McCroskey. 2001. "The relationship of teacher clarity and immediacy with student state receiver apprehension, affect, and cognitive learning " Communication Education no. 50 (1):59-68.
Chesebro, J. L., and M. B. Wanzer. 2006. "Instructional message variable." In Handbook of instructional communication: Rhetorical and relational perspectives, edited by T.P. Mottet, V.P. Richmond and J McCroskey, C. USA: Pearson education, Inc.
Collins, J.W., and N.P. O’Brien. 2003. The greenwood dictionary of education,. Connecticut, US: Greenwood Press,.
Comadena, M.E., S.K. Hunt, and C.J. Simonds. 2007. "The effects of teacher clarity, nonverbal immediacy and caring on student motivation, affective and cognitive learning." Communication Research Reports no. 24 (3):241-248.
Cosser, M., and M. Letseka. 2010. Introduction. In Student retention & graduate destination: Highr education & labour market access & sucess, edited by M. Letseka, M Cosser, M. Breier and M Visser. Cape town: Human Science Research Council.
Crews, T. B, L. Ducate, J. M. Rathel, K. N. Heid, and S. T. Bishoff. 2011. Clickers in the classroom: Transforming students into active learners. 9, http://www.educause.edu/ecar
Daly, A., and J. Brown. 2007. Lecturer communication in a multilcultural higher education context, in student success in international education. In ISANA International Conference. Standford Grand, Australia.
De Jager, L, and R. Evans. 2013. "Misunderstanding during instructional communication as related to oral proficiency." Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies no. 31 (1):97-110.
Dippenaar, A. J. F., and T. Peyper. 2011. Language awareness and communication as part of teacher education at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Duhaney, D. C. 2000. "Technology and the educational process: Transforming classroom activities." International Journal of Instructional Media no. 27 (1):67-72.
Ebner, M., and W. Nagler. 2008. Has the end of chalkboard come? A survey about the limits of Interactive Pen Displays in Higher Education. Paper read at Proceeding of the 4th International Microlearning 2008 Conference on Microlearning and Capacity Building.
Evans, R. 2006. "The impact of presenter speech personality on learner participation during televised instruction." Journal for Language Teaching/Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig no. 40 ( 2):21-34.
Ferreira, J.G. 2006. "Effective mediation of learning through the use of media and everyday resources " In The educator as mediator of learning, edited by M Nieman, M. and R Monyai, B. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
Finn, N., and P. Schrodt. 2012. "Students' perceived understanding mediates the effects of teacher clarity and nonverbal immediacy on learner empowerment." Communication Education no. 61 (2):111-130.
Fraser, W., and R. Killen. 2005. "The perceptions of students and lecturers of some factors influencing academic performance at two South African universities." Perspectives in Education no. 23 (1):25-40.
Gayle, B. M., R. W. Preiss, N. Burrell, and M. Allen. 2009. Classroom communication and instructional processes: Advances through meta-analysis: Routledge.
Gibbs, P, T. 2004. "Trusting in the university: The contribution of temporality and trust to a praxis of learning." In. USA: Kluwer academic Publishers.
Haskins, W.A. 2000. "Ethos and pedagogical communication: Suggestions for enhancing credibility in the classroom." Current Issues in Education no. 3 (4):1-8.
Hybels, S., and R. L. Weaver. 2012. Communicating effectively. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies ,Inc.
Ivankova, N.V., J.W. Creswell, and V.L. Plano Clark. 2009. "Foundations and approached to mixed methods research." In First Steps in Research, edited by K. Maree, 254-282. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
Krashen, S., and C. L. Brown. 2007. "What is academic language proficiency." STETS Language & Communication Review no. 6 (1):1-5.
Lewin, T. 2014. Student Access and Success: Issues and Interventions in South African Universities. Cape Town: Inyathelo: The South African Institute for Advancement.
MacGregor, K. 2009. South Africa: Shocking results from university tests. (0035),
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20090816082047397
McCroskey, J, C., K Valencic, M., and V Richmond, P. 2004. "Towards a General Model of Instructional Communication." Communication Quarterly no. 52 (3):197-210.
Mothata, S., E. Lemmer, T. Mda, and F. Pretorius. 2000. A dictionary of Soth African education and training. Randburg, South Africa: Hodder & Stoughton Education.
Moulton, J. 1994. "How do teachers use textbooks and other print materials: A review of the literature." The Improving Educational Quality Project, South Africa.
Neef, N. A. , B. E. McCord, and S. J. Ferreri. 2006. "Effects of guided notes versus completed notes during lectures on college students' quize performance " Journal of applied behavior analysis no. 39 (1):123-130.
Ribera, T., A. Brekalorenz, E.R. Cole, and T.F.N. Liard. 2012. Examining the importance of teacher clarity: Findings from the faculty Survey of student engagement In Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Vancuver, BC, Canada.
Rodger, S., H.G. Murray, and A.L Cummins. 2007. "Effects of teacher clarity and students anxiety and student outcomes." Teaching in Higher Education no. 12 (1):91-104.
Sidelinger, R.J., and J.C. McCroskey. 1997. "Communication correlates of teacher clarity in the college classroom." Communication Research Reports no. 14 (1):1-10.
Simonds, C, J. 1997. "Classroom understanding: An expanded notion of teacher clarity." Communication Research Reports no. 14 (3):279-290.
Stefik, M., G. Foster, D. G. Bobrow, K. Kahn, S. Lanning, and L. Suchman. 1987. "Beyond the chalkboard: computer support for collaboration and problem solving in meetings." Communications of the ACM no. 30 (1):32-47.
Theall, M. Explain course material clearly and concisely. POD-IDEA Center Notes 2005. Available from http://www.theideacenter.org/sites/default/files/Item10Formatted.pdf
Titsworth, B, S., and K. A. Kiewra. 2004. "Spoken organizational lecture cues and students notetaking as facilitators of student learning." Contemporary Educational Psychology no. 29:447-461.
Titsworth, S., and J.P. Mazer. 2010. "Clarity in teaching and learning: Conundrums, consequences and opportunities." In The SAGE Handbook of Communication and Instruction, edited by D.L. Fasset and J.T. Warren, 241-263. California: SAGE Publishers, Inc.
Toale, M.C. 2001. Teacher clarity and teacher misbehaviour: Relationships with students' affective learning and teacher credibility, College of Human Resource and Education, West Virginia University.
Trimble, C.S. 2008. Criteria for effective use of technology in the classroom: Identifying when technology should and should not be used. Paper read at Marketing Management Association (MMA) Fall Educators Conference.
Westwood, P. 2004. "Effective teaching to reduce educational failure." Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities no. 3 ( 3):4-12.
Wilson-Strydom, M. 2015. Access and Success - Transition into and throughHigher Education. In 2nd Higher Education Summit Pretoria: Department of Higher Education:South Africa.
Worley, D., S. Titsworth, D. Worley, and M. Cornett-DeVito. 2007. "Instructional communication competence: Lessons learned from award-winning teachers." Communication Studies no. 58 (2):207-222.
Wrench, J. S., R. V. Peck , and J. Gorham. 2009. Communication, affect, & learning in the classroom. California, USA: Creative Commons.
Yilmaz, C. 2011. "Teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy, English proficiency and instructional strategies." Social Behavior and Personality no. 39:91-100.
Copyright (c) 2019 Madikwa Hendrietta Segabutla
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged, when works are cited.
Authors, copyright holders, may use the publishers version for teaching purposes, in books, theses, dissertations, conferences and conference papers.
A copy of the authors' publishers version may also be hosted on the following websites:
- Non-commercial personal homepage or blog.
- Institutional webpage.
- Authors Institutional Repository.
The following notice should accompany such a posting on the website: This is an electronic version of an article published in SAJHE, Volume XXX, number XXX, pages XXX “XXX", DOI. Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/SAJHE) may be found.
Authors publishers version, affiliated with the Stellenbosch University will be automatically deposited in the University Institutional Repository SUNScholar.
Articles as a whole, may not be re-published with another journal.
The following license applies:
Attribution CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
