On Effective Communication Between Teachers And Students In Classroom

An increase in academic standings is the positive result of interactions between students and teachers. Teachers diligently work to increase understanding among their students in order to assess their depth of content knowledge. Effective communication is a critical characteristic in an academic environment, as well. Effective communication between students and teachers is found through personal interaction. Consequently, the possible outcomes of effective communication between students and teachers includes better content knowledge, better academic performance, and positive effects on students outside of school. Students are able to better understand content knowledge when there is a strong communication base with their teachers and administrators. Teacher's ability to communicate with students defines a factor of academic success. "Creating a collaborative environment and open communication has been described as the single most important factor for successful school improvement initiatives" (Halawah 335). The most important factor that teachers need to consider when dealing with students is making sure that students understand the environment in which they are participating in, as the learning environment directly correlates with the success of the students. When students understand and feel comfortable in their environment, they are able to excel because they do not feel limited or restrained. Teachers through successful communication create comfort levels. Administrators should also create comfortable academic environments.Educators search for improved ways to educate the student population and close the achievement gaps in the education system. They seek programs that significantly improve student performance (grades) and behavior in order to make students more successful. Government policies on education'require teachers to achieve measurable goals and objectives and to hold teachers accountable for student performance. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in student communication (i.e., student communication motives, student participation, and challenge behavior) and learning outcomes (i.e., cognitive learning, affective learning, state motivation, student satisfaction) attributable to teacher confirmation behavior in the school classroom. Significant differences were discovered for all four hypotheses.Teacher confirmation research has suggested that students form positive perceptions of confirming instructors and report increases in learning (Ellis,2000,2004). However, actual student communication behaviors resulting from teacher confirmation in the school classroom has received little attention. Communication is defined as an interaction between students and teachers during class and outside of the classroom. This increase in effective communication has positive effects on the students in their academic endeavors as well as their social interactions. This study conducted a survey of China, Sri Lanka and Italy Elementary School students (N=403), and grade levels 7-9, to determine the effectiveness of student teacher interactions.Where teacher confirmation was manipulated (i.e., not confirming, somewhat confirming, confirming) across three school courses. Students completed a posttest assessing both positive (i.e., student communication motives, student participation) and negative (i.e., challenge behaviors) communication behaviors they might engage in while taking a course with teacher. Additionally, students reported on traditional learning outcomes (i.e., cognitive learning, affective learning, state motivation, student satisfaction) resulting from the lecture manipulation. Collectively, results indicated that teacher confirmation (versus the absence of confirmation) lead to (a) more student communication for the relational, functional, and participatory motives and less communication for the excuse-making motive, (b) more student participation, (c) less challenge behavior, and (d) greater cognitive learning, affective learning, state motivation, and student satisfaction. Teacher confirmation appears to be a salient behavior for effective instruction. This discovered link among all four hypotheses might be due to three mediating variables:caring, understanding, and affinity seeking.