ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN NONVERBAL BEHAVIORS AND INITIAL IMPRESSIONS OF INSTRUCTOR COMPETENCE AND COURSE CONTENT IN VIDEOTAPED DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES

This study investigates the relationship between nonverbal behavior an d initial impressions of instructor competence and course content with in the context of instructional videotapes used in distance education courses. Four 10-minute segments of introductory lectures from videota ped distance education courses were shown to 8 undergraduate classes i n speech communication, with 2 classes viewing each videotape. After w atching the videotapes, the 180 students rated the instructor's involv ement/enthusiasm, expressiveness/warmth, fluency/composure, articulati on/clarity, and eye contact. Students also judged the instructor's com petence (in terms of likability and trustworthiness) and the course co ntent (in terms of interest and value). In line with our hypotheses, r esults indicated that instructors who are viewed as expressive, warm, and involved an most likely to be judged as highly competent. In addit ion, when instructors are expressive, warm, involved, and articulate, their course content is likely to be judged favorably, especially if t hey are not overly composed and fluent.