TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of syllabus tone
T2 - Students' perceptions of instructor and course
AU - Harnish, Richard J.
AU - Bridges, K. Robert
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments The authors thank Karen Rottschaefer, Lawrence Saha, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. This research was supported by an Internal Research Development Grant from The Pennsylvania State University to the first author.
Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - It is not uncommon for students to complain that faculty are unapproachable, while faculty complain that students are not engaged. Such perceptions, especially when formed at the start of a semester, can impact what students learn and how instructors teach; therefore, it is critical that these perceptions are prevented if a course is to be successful. A good starting point is the syllabus, which not only informs students about a course and its requirements, but creates a first impression about the instructor and his or her attitudes toward teaching. We conducted an experiment in which the course syllabus was manipulated to reflect a friendly or an unfriendly tone so that we could explore the perceptions students formed of the instructor and class. Results supported the hypothesis that a syllabus written in a friendly, rather than unfriendly, tone evoked perceptions of the instructor being more warm, more approachable, and more motivated to teach the course.
AB - It is not uncommon for students to complain that faculty are unapproachable, while faculty complain that students are not engaged. Such perceptions, especially when formed at the start of a semester, can impact what students learn and how instructors teach; therefore, it is critical that these perceptions are prevented if a course is to be successful. A good starting point is the syllabus, which not only informs students about a course and its requirements, but creates a first impression about the instructor and his or her attitudes toward teaching. We conducted an experiment in which the course syllabus was manipulated to reflect a friendly or an unfriendly tone so that we could explore the perceptions students formed of the instructor and class. Results supported the hypothesis that a syllabus written in a friendly, rather than unfriendly, tone evoked perceptions of the instructor being more warm, more approachable, and more motivated to teach the course.
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U2 - 10.1007/s11218-011-9152-4
DO - 10.1007/s11218-011-9152-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80052478700
VL - 14
SP - 319
EP - 330
JO - Social Psychology of Education
JF - Social Psychology of Education
SN - 1381-2890
IS - 3
ER -