ABSTRACT
Teacher credibility refers to students’ attitudes toward or evaluation of their teachers. Even though rhetorical scholars and communication researchers may disagree over the particular dimensions that comprise the credibility construct, all agree that credibility is multidimensional. Two types of scales can be used to measure the Competence and Character dimensions of credibility. When assessing teacher credibility, students are asked to evaluate their instructor in terms of the specific bipolar adjectives listed on a 7-point scale. Responses are subsequently recoded so that higher scores reflect perceptions of higher teacher credibility. The scale takes less than 5 minutes to complete. Reliability estimates of this specific 12-item semantic differential scale as well as other versions using the same and additional adjective pairs, are always high. A large body of research supports the validity of the credibility scale.
