Student Performance, Attitudes, Instructional Strategies and Teacher-Communication Style

This chapter will discuss the results of two related studies. The first (Brekelmans, 1989) used the QTI in the Dutch option of the Second International Science Study to investigate the relationship between students’ perceptions of interpersonal teacher behavior and student achievement and attitudes. It also analyzed a number of other variables such as learning environment characteristics, teachers’ opinions, teachers’ perceptions of the communication style and different curricula. The results raised some questions about the extent to which teacher interpersonal behavior and teacher instructional behavior can be distinguished from each other. This led to a second study (Levy, Rodriguez and Wubbels, 1992) which will also be discussed.