EDUC 815
ARTICLE CRITIQUE WORKSHEET-5
Group number: 1
Member Submission: Deborah Davis
Questions:
1. Correctly reference the article using current APA format.
Schutt, M., Allen, B., and Laumakis, M. (2009). The effects of instructor immediacy
behaviors in online learning environments. The Quarterly Review of Distance
Education, 10(2), 135-148.
2. What is the purpose of the study?
The stated purpose of this study was “to investigate participants’ perception of instructor
immediacy and social presence, and the relationships between immediacy and social
presence in online learning environments.” (Schutt, Allen, & Laumakis, 2009, p. 138).
Prior studies have shown that students with a sense of social connectedness to their
instructors tend to be more satisfied believe they learn more. However, this study
devotes the theory exclusively to relationship between instructor immediacy and the the
connectedness needed to enhance learning (Schutt, Allen, & Laumakis, 2009, p. 136).
3. List the research questions.
Does a statistically significant relationship exist between immediacy of sessions with
immediacy of instructor response and instructor social presence in an online educational
environment?
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4. List the hypotheses; then, underline and label the corresponding independent/dependent
variables or predictor/criterion variables. Are there any covariates? If so, name them.
The study clearly names the hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1i: Participants who view the high-immediacy sessions(DV) will indicate
higher perception of instructor immediacy (DV) than the participants who view the lowimmediacy sessions (IV).
Hypothesis H1ii: Participants who view the high-immediacy, video and audio with text
chat session (IV) will indicate the highest perception of instructor immediacy (DV).
Hypothesis H2i: Participants who view the high-immediacy sessions (IV) will indicate
higher perception of instructor social presence (DV)than the participants who view the
low-immediacy sessions (IV).
Hypothesis H2ii: Participants who view the high-immediacy video and audio with text
chat session (IV) will indicate the highest perception of instructor social presence (DV).
Hypothesis H3: There is a positive relationship between perceived instructor immediacy
(DV) and perceived instructor social presence (DV).
5. Do the questions pose an ethical or moral problem for implementation? Why or why not?
The questions could, but likely do not, pose an ethical or moral problem for
implementation. Online students, as a class, tend to be more willing subjects. In that all
participants were students in a Psychology 101 class, these participants were aware of the
study and advised of it as a means for preparing for an exam before participation.
However, participants could gain extra credit for this assignment, which could be
construed as an incentive for participation, but consent to use of the data was not required
to receive the extra credit.
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6. Do the questions or hypotheses measure any theoretical constructs? If so, list them.
The hypothesis implies a theoretical construct that the perceived immediacy of an
instructor response in an online learning environment will have an impact on students’
perceived learning as well as student views of instructor responsiveness.
7. Do the author(s) clearly identify the participants and setting? If so, describe them.
Participants
Of the 989 students elicited for this study, 632 (63.90%) completed the study and
433 (43.78%) agreed to use of their data. Of the 433, females comprise 316
(73.20%) and 117 (26.80%) of the students were male. While 230 (53.30%)
identified themselves as white, the remaining 203 (46.7%) did not identify
themselves as to ethnicity. Of the 433 participants, 239 (48,97%) were 18 or 19
years old (Schutt, Allen, & Laumakis, 2009).
Setting:
For one week, the 988 students were divided into four groups: High-Immediacy
Script with Video, Audio, and Text (Hi-VAT), High-Immdiacy Script with Audio
and Text (Hi-AT), Low-Immediacy Script with Video, Audio, and Text (LoVAT), and Low-Immediacy Script with Audio and Text (Lo-AT). Students
completed a short demographic survey, and then a questionnaire to garner the data
for analysis. The entire study gathered this information using online resources via
the World-Wide-Web (WWW), and allowed students to interact from their
locations at or within a stated timeframe (Schutt, Allen, & Laumakis, 2009).
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8. What research design is used and why?
This research used a causal-comparative experimental design. This design allowed for
analysis of the relationship between the four identified groups in response to their given
answers on an inventory of behaviors sequenced by the Likert scale (Schutt, Allen, &
Laumakis, 2009).
9. What type of sampling method is used?
The present study used a convenience sample of online students during two sections of
and online Psychology 101 course at a large Southern California University.
10. What are the names of each instrument used in the study (provide a list)?
Self-report of demographic information
Verbal Immediacy Behavior Scale (VIBS) (Gorham, 1988)
Nonverbal Immediacy Behavior Scale (NIBS) (Richmone, et al., 1987)
Garrison, et al. (2004) report of social presence
11. Are the instruments valid and reliable? Why or why not?
Validity:
“Previous research (Freitas et al., 1998) demonstrated Cronbach’s alpha
coefficients ranging from .77 to .94 for the VIBS and from .76 to .82 for the
NIBS” (Schutt, Allen, & Laumakis, 2009, p. 141)
Reliability:
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A “calculated Cronbach's alpha for the internal consistency of the items in the
combined (VIB + NIB) scales (α = .904) and the 10-item modified social presence
scale (α = .937), indicating high levels of reliability” (Schutt, Allen, & Laumakis,
2009, p. 141).
12. Do the author(s) give enough detail regarding the procedure so that the study could be
replicated? How or how not?
Sufficient detail regarding the procedure was given so that the study could be replicated.
The students receive the inventories following a one-week session with instructors
following a specific script as modified for each group. Questions, including
demographic inquiry, were made available to the students via the online
communication (Schutt, Allen, & Laumakis, 2009).
13. What type of statistical analysis is used and why?
A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to indicate overall significant effect
of the relationship between Hi-VAT and Hi-AT as opposed to Lo-VAT and Lo-AT. The
Tamhane’s T2 post hoc test was used for multiple comparisons between L0-VAT and LoAT. A one-way ANOVA was again used to demonstrate the magnitude and direction of
differences between Hi-VAT, Hi-AT, Lo-VAT, and Lo-AT. Post hoc analysis using
Tamhane;s T2 was used for evaluation of significant difference between Hi-AT and LoVAT groups for perceived social presence. A Pearson Correlation was used to evaluate
the relationship of instructor immediacy ratings and social presence ratings. Regression
analysis provided evidence regarding the strength of this relationship.
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14. What are the major conclusions of the study? How do they relate to the hypothesis?
Video-enabled communications aid in communication of immediacy behaviors. Audioenable connumications also aid in communication of immediacy behaviors, just not as
much as video-enabled. More importantly, there is evidence “that the use of video may
reduce the psychological distance between the instructor and the online learners if the
instructor is proficient in the use of immediacy behaviors” (Schutt, Allen, and Laumakis,
2009, p. 144). The importance of instructor training in immediacy behaviors cannot be
under-rated. This is true both in the perception of immediacy as well as social presence.
15. Do the author(s) suggest any future studies to resolve ambiguities in the present study or
to answer questions raised by the present study?
These authors do not specifically suggest any future studies related to the present study.
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