OIT Faculty Respect Study

By Dr. Julianne Murray
Associate Professor, Communications

A recent study of how OIT faculty communicate revealed that students give OIT faculty high marks for demonstrating respect, both in their major classes and in general education courses.  Students also indicated that this demonstration of respect is an important aspect of their educational experiences.

The OIT faculty respect study began in the fall of 2006, with help from students in the Communication Research course.  The purpose was to learn about students' perceptions of faculty behavior demonstrating respect. Students interviewed cohorts and the interviews yielded 18 faculty communication behaviors deemed to demonstrate respect toward students.  These 18 verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors became items on a questionnaire completed by 280 OIT students winter quarter of 2007.  The questionnaire also included two items asking to what extent do faculty demonstrate respect in students' major courses and general education courses, and an item asking if a faculty's display of respect improves the student's educational experience.

The 18 communication behaviors itemized on the questionnaire can be grouped into three major categories:  Professional behavior, nonverbal behavior and verbal behavior (see Appendix A). The three additional items will be considered separately.  While the results of the questionnaire are not statistically significant, differences in scores may be useful in initiating a discussion about how OIT faculty can best serve the students.

Of the three categories, professional behavior, nonverbal behavior and verbal behavior, students ranked professional behavior as most important in demonstrating respect toward students.  The average for this category was 4.45 on the Likert scale, with one being not important and five being extremely important.  The behaviors included in professional behavior are listed below beginning with the highest ranking: 

  • Providing help with class work (4.58)
  • Covering course material completely (4.56)
  • Answering questions completely (4.54)
  • Being available (e.g., office hours, labs) (4.44)
  • Quick to respond (e.g., phone, e-mail) (4.44)
  • Talking with students before and after class (4.17)

Three items listed at the bottom of this category rank lower than some items in the following categories.

The category with the second highest average score was nonverbal behavior. The average for this category was 4.02 on the Likert scale, with one being not important and five being extremely important.  The behaviors included in nonverbal communication are listed below beginning with the highest ranking:

  • Listening (4.49)
  • Tone of voice (4.35)
  • Volume of voice (4.24)
  • Eye contact (4.03)
  • Facial expressions (3.99)
  • Body movements (3.88)
  • Body posture (3.69)
  • Non-speech sounds (3.50)

While the average for the nonverbal category is higher than the average for the verbal category, three items in the verbal category below rank higher than some items in the nonverbal list.

Verbal behavior averaged slightly below nonverbal behavior. The average for the verbal category was 3.90 on the Likert scale, with one being not important and five being extremely important.  The behaviors included in verbal communication are listed below beginning with the highest ranking:

  • Directly expressing respect (4.30)
  • Not interrupting (4.09)
  • Giving students turns in conversations (4.07)
  • Having students lead conversations (3.17)

While directly expressing respect, not interrupting and giving students turns in conversations ranked above 4.0, having students lead conversations received the lowest ranking on the questionnaire.  Keeping in mind that the questionnaire was asking what behaviors signal respect, this may indicate only that student-led conversations don't signal respect, whereas they may still be valued by students.

The three final items asked to what extent faculty demonstrate respect in students' major courses and general education courses, and if a faculty's display of respect improves the student's educational experience.  The items were ranked on a five point Likert scale from one to five: never, rarely, sometimes, often, and always.  The item "to what extent do faculty at OIT in your major classes demonstrate respect?" had an average of 4.14.  The item "to what extent do faculty in the general education classes demonstrate respect?" averaged 4.02.  Results listed by individual academic departments are provided in Appendix B.  The final item, "does a faculty's display of respect improve your educational experience?" averaged 4.41.  Clearly, students link the quality of their educational experience and the faculty's respect.

In summary, students indicated that faculty displays of respect are important to their educational experience, and that professional behavior is the most valued type of display.  The top three items in the professional behavior category received the highest averages of any items on the survey.  These items are:

  • Providing help with class work (4.58)
  • Covering course material completely (4.56)
  • Answering questions completely (4.54)

It appears that students most value faculty behavior that supports their learning and mastery of course content.

The next highest items in the professional category address faculty availability to students.

  • Being available (e.g., office hours, lab) (4.44)
  • Quick to respond (e.g., phone, e-mail) (4.44)

Students evidently place a high value on timely communication with faculty as well as their availability with office hours and in labs.

In the nonverbal communication area, students rank listening and tone of voice as most important signals of respect.

  • Listening (4.49)
  • Tone of voice (4.35)

Further research in this area might investigate more precisely what behaviors are related to perceptions that a faculty is listening.  For the OIT faculty, simply reflecting on the results provided for academic departments may yield at least some useful discussion.