ABSTRACT
Even though the area of instructional communication is new to our discipline, in the last 10 to 15 years we have seen the development of numerous psychological scales, behavioral (skills) assessments, and qualitative coding schemes. Whereas learning outcomes may be the primary dependent variable examined in the instructional communication literature, the teacher has been targeted as the primary independent variable. Moreover, only three from the entire list focus exclusively on students’ communication behaviors: students’ clarifying tactics (signaling noncomprehensions), comforting skills, and communication concerns. Communication apprehension can be conceived as either a trait or a state variable. The most popular and most valid measure of trait-like communication apprehension is McCroskey’s Personal Report of Communication Apprehension. This chapter provides a brief overview of some important issues that dominate the thinking of instructional communication research today.
