Are Student Self-Reports a Valid Method for Measuring Teacher Nonverbal Immediacy?

This project was undertaken to address the question of whether student reports are a valid way to measure teacher nonverbal immediacy. In response to concerns about psychometric shortcomings of available immediacy measures, Study 1 was conducted to refine the items used to measure teacher immediacy. The resulting set of 8 items, Nonverbal Immediacy in College Classroom Instruction (NICCI), has two correlated factors: affiliation and animation. In Study 2, student reports of teacher immediacy using the NICCI were compared with observer-coded videotapes of the instructors. The results showed a nonsignificant association (r = -.15) between student reports and coded observations. These findings fail to support the common presumption that student reports are a valid way to measure teacher immediacy behaviors.