Achievement as a Function of Teacher-Initiated Student-Teacher Personal Interactions

Abstract

40 Ss enrolled in an undergraduate education course in audio-visual techniques were rank ordered by past grade point average. The median break technique was used to form two groups, a high-GPA and a low-GPA group. Ss within each of these groups were then randomly assigned to two treatments. Treatment I Ss were treated politely by the instructor but with no personal interest. Treatment II Ss were referred to by name, and the instructor initiated discussion with them. A 2 × 2 analysis of variance design was employed to analyze student performance on the first teacher-made achievement test. Treatment II Ss achieved significantly higher scores than did Treatment I Ss, and high-GPA Ss achieved significantly higher scores than did low-GPA Ss. The interaction was not significant although treatment appeared to have a greater effect on low-GPA Ss than on high-GPA Ss.