The Teacher -Student Relationship in Experiential Classes and the Student’s Perception
The Teacher-Student Relationship in
Experiential Classes and the Student’s
Perception of Course Effectiveness
Lane Kelley
zyxwv
University of Hawaii
Arthur Whatley
New Mexico State University
During the last several years, a number of aiticles have been published
dealing with the effectiveness of experiential classes. Regretfully, the
majority of these studies are attempting to make a unidimensional assessment of a multidimensional phenomena. In the majority of cases,
the researchers have relied upon student evaluations to assess the
course’s effectiveness. Course effectiveness is a significant issue, especially for “innovative” classes. Courses that are taught in unorthodox
ways are suspect. This study was conducted to analyze the relationship
between the teacherstudent relationship and the student’s perception
of course effectiveness. The review of related research suggested that the
teacher-student relationship is important in lecture classes in grade
school, adult education classes, and in college students’ choice of major.
A review of the research on the effectiveness of the experiential approach
provides mixed results, but none of these studies have controlled for the
teacherstudent relationship. The research in the present study suggests
that the emotional relationship between the teacher and student is related to the students’ perception of the effectiveness of the experiential
method.
Introduction During the last decade management education teaching methods have
zyx
z
zyxwvut
experienced a virtual revolution. In previous times the prevailing teaching methodology was the lecture-discussion and, if the teacher was in-
Address reprint requests to: Arthur Whately, College of Business Adrnin. 9 Economics, New
Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003.
Journal of Experiential Learning and Sirnulotion 2, 17-28 (1980)
@ Elsevier North Holland, Inc., 1980
52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, New York 10017
9
0162-6574/80/010009-08$01.75
10
zyxwvut
L. Kelley and A. Whatley
Lane Kelley is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Hawaii.
His articles have appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of
Collective Bargaining, and Industrial Relations. He is a coauthor of Personnel
Management in Action (West, 1977).He is a member of the Academy of Management and the Association for Business Simulation a n d Experiential Learning.
novative, perhaps cases and case discussions would be used. Today it is
not unusual to find sociodrama and individual analysis of group roles,
group dynamics, individual and group decision-making, role playing,
and other human relation skill building exercises used in the college
classroom. These are generally referred to as “experiential” techniques.
The purpose of the present research is to analyze the role of the teacherstudent relationship and the students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of
experiential exercises. This is a significant question in that the “student
evaluation” has become important in many business schools as a measure of a teacher’s effectiveness. The present research examines in specific the teacher-student relationship and what it contributes to the students’ perception of the course’s effectiveness.
zyx
Related Research Thistlewaite [9]reported that National Merit Scholars considered one of
the critical variables influencing their choice of a field to be the instructor’s enthusiasm. Three studies illustrate the importance of the teacherstudent relationship in elementary education. Christensen [41 found a
significant relationship between the quality of the teacher-student relationship and the student’s level of achievement in tests of vocabulary
and arithmetic. Hawkes and Egbert [6] found a significant relationship
between the degree of the teacher’s empathetic understanding of the
student and the student’s ratings of teacher competence. Aspy [I] studied
the teacher-student relationship and found that it was related to the
student’s gain in achievement. In the data the effect of the teacher-student relationship was as great as the effect of the range of intelligence
in the classes. Truax [lo] found that the vocational-rehabilitation instructor-client relationship was related to the client’s class attendance, attitude toward the course, and his performance on tests. The clients were
basically young adults.
Haslett [5] did a study of university students to determine the factors
students perceived as being effectiveness criteria of professors. Five factors were reported:
z
1. Studenvteacher rapport
2. Instructional style (included in this is knowledge of material, orga-
nization, and interestingness)
3. Communicative style (included was congeniality and informalness)
4. Stimulation
5. Personalization-teacher’s
ability to add a personalized human quality to teaching and to make class material relevant to students
From the above research studies, it might be concluded that the
“personal” element that the instructor establishes in the classroom is
very important for choosing majors, cognitive learning in elementary
school, and also accomplishing some other behavioral objectives.
The Teacher-Student Relationship in Experiential Classes
11
zyxw
zyxwv
Arthur Whatley is an Associate Professor of Management at New Mexico State
University. His articles have appeared in the Academy of Management Journal,
Business and Society, The Personnel Administrator, and other journals. He I S a
c oa ut ho r of Personnel Management in Action (West, 1977).
Assessments of the
Effectiveness of
Experiential
Learning
zyxwv
A number of journals, especially the Journal of Experiential Learning
and Simulation, have published articles describing the effectiveness of
experiential learning. Of importance to the present paper is how they
operationally define effectiveness. One research article in the Academy
of Management Journal [11] reported that a business policy simulaticm
computer game team which had gone through Kolb et al.’s Organizational Psychology: An Experiential Approach did not do better than a
team which had not gone through the exercises. The reader should be
reminded that Kolb’s book emphasizes individual psychology and not
group dynamics, nor group problem solving and, therefore, is not especially relevant to business games. Teachers who have experience with
both management policy games and Kolb’s exercises probably wouldn’t
have expected any type of relationship.
Another study of the experiential approach in a business policy course
reported that the use of “the” experiential approach to teaching business
policy appears to be a very effective teaching device and that secret
ballots of students the next semester chose the experiential approach [7].
A third study of the effectivenessof “the” e x p ~ e % ~ ~ F G i in
c ~ ~ e d
a business policy course concluded that the experiential method pro-
not allow for any conclusions about “experiential” learning. All of the
above studies relied upon the student’s perceptions of course effectiveness rather than more objective criteria.
Butler and Keys [3] studied the relative effectiveness of a simulation
laboratory and a traditional lecture-discussion course. Two groups of
participants in each course were pretested as to their knowledge of facts
and concepts regarding human relations and human resource development. Posttest measurements of the two groups on the same instruments
revealed gains that
c&$e,disgussion) group. The experimental (simulation) group measured highly significant gaim-C?mmensurate_with
the significant knowledge gains by
the experimental participants, the responses from their subordinates over
a two-month period indicated significant changes in their perceptions of
their supervisor’s behavior. This was not true of the contr
authors conclude that the simulation meth
more
the traditional method in i
behav
ticipants.-Xheir research a n
study ‘used-either cognitive
a n b o r behavioral change criteria.
Kelley [ 8 ] compared an integrated didactic-experiential approach for
teaching a personnel management course to a lecture-discussion course
and reported that students were more “satisfied” with the experiential
zyxwvu
zyxwvuts
zyxwvuts
12
,
L. Kelley and A. Whatley
course, and scored higher on an exam designed to measure knowle
of the subject matter. The students also reported that participation in
exercises was more interesting and stimulating than lectures but t
didn’t feel that they necessarily learned more. This is important because
the students in the experimental course scored higher on an exam designed to measure their knowledge of the subject, which is just the opposite of their perceptions. A review of the research illustrates the importance of the student’s perception of course effectiveness. The purpose
of the present study is to examine the student’s perception of course
effectiveness in terms of the student’s relationship with the instructor.
Hypotheses, In order to analyze the teacher-student relationship and the students’
Methodology, and perceptions of course effectiveness, the following hypotheses were deResults fined. “Students who felt comfortable with the instructor” would be positively related to their perceptions:
H, : that experiential exercises are beneficial for understanding the top
covered in the course.
H2: that less class time should be spent in lecture.
H,: that more class time should be spent in experiential exercises.
H,: that experiential exercises make the topics more interesting.
H,: that experiential exercises should be used in more business courses.
The above hypotheses were also tested in terms o
e degree to which
students felt comfortable with the teacher.
The research was conducted in three undergraduate sections of personnel management. Whatley and Kelley’s Personnel Management in
classtime.
At this point each hypothesis along with the relevant data from Table
pothesis is supportable.
z
zy
1 will be presented and discussed in terms of whether or not the hy-
HI: Experiential exercises are beneficial for understanding the topics
covered in the course.
XI: Feeling comfortable with the instructor-Pearsonian r = 0.
Significant at 0.01 level.
X p : Teacher-student relationship-Pearsonian r = 0.3069
Significant at 0.03 level.
These data provide both statistical and directional support for the
hypothesis. The degree to which students feel comfortable with the in-
he Teacher-Student Relationship in Experiential Classes
teacher (X,)
zyxw
zyxwvutsrq
QZ Exercise beneficial
for understanding
Q3 More time in
Q4
More time in
exercises
1.0000
S=O.OOl
0.3467
0.4365
S=O.OOl
S=O.OOl
S=O.OOl
S=O.OOl
Q5 Exercises made
0.6687
topic interesting
02540
S=0.016
0.2922
S=0.005
more
business courses
Q6 Exercises in
Q7 Teacher-student
gnificant at 0.003 level.
zyxwv
similar. The better the professor-student relationship, the less lecture
time is desired.
El3: More class time should be spent in experiential exercises.
XI: Feeling comfortable with the instructor-Pearsonian r
Not significant at any reasonable level.
Pearsonian r = 0.2540
= 0.0966
d in mixed feelings. The relationship
between feeling comfortable with the instructor was not found to be
significantly related to the need for spending more class time in experiential exercises. This could be interpreted to mean that the 40% of time
already spent is adequate in students’ views.
This lack of significance did not hold up when the professor-student
14
zyxwvut
L. Kelley and A. Whatley
zyx
zy
relationship was correlated with the need for more time in experiential
exercises. This statistic was both significant and in a positive direction.
H,: Experiential exercises made the topic interesting.
XI: Feeling comfortable with the instructor-Pearsonian r
Significant at 0.011 level.
X,: Teacher-student relationship-Pearsonian r = 0.2922
Significant at 0.005 level.
=
0.2677
The students’ view that experiential exercises made the topic interesting was significantly and positively correlated with the degree to
which students felt comfortable with the instructor and the professorstudent relationship was viewed as positive. These two independent variables, then, are related to students’ perceptions regarding the interesting
nature of experiential exercises.
zyxwv
H5: Experiential exercises should be used in more business courses.
XI: Feeling comfortable with the instructor-Pearsonian r = 0.1901
Significant at 0.074 level.
Xz: Teacher-student relationship-Pearsonian r = 0.2261
Significant at 0.033 level.
Here, too, both independent variables are found to be significantly
related, in the desired positive direction, with students’ perception that
exercises should be used in more courses.
Discussion
The effectiveness of a course can be defined in many ways, including
knowledge acquisition, problem-solving skills, value change, attitude
change, and behavioral change. Regretfully, most colleges have not exerted the effort to assess any of these types of measures, relying instead
on student evaluations of their courses and staff. The findings of the
present research suggest that the student-teacher relationship, and how
comfortable the student is with the teacher, is significantly related to
whether the student thought that (1)the experiential exercises were beneficial for understanding the concepts introduced in the course, (2) more
time should be spent in experiential exercises, (3) the experiential exercises made the topics more interesting, (4) experiential exercises
should be in more business courses, and (5) it is inversely related to
spending more time in lecture. The student-teacher relationship is an
emotional phenomenon which appears to bias the student’s assessment
of the cognitive portions of the course. This may be of some importance
to those teachers concerned with course effectiveness in systems which
rely on student evaluations because the findings suggest that the student
is not only assessing the course but also his relationship with the instructor.
This “emotional contamination” of student evaluations seems to be
especially significant in experiential classes because of the reasons behind some individuals’ choice of experiential methods and the experiential process. Some teachers use experiential exercises because they
want a more passive role with the students, but the present research
suggests that an active relationship and making the students comfortable
in their relationship is important if the teacher wants good course evaluations. It seems also that the experiential process, itself, requires the
The Teacher-Student Relationship in Experiential Classes
15
student to feel comfortable in the relationship because the teacher moves
from the lecturer-authoritarian-position
to a facilitator role. In the lecture method, the power comes from the lecturer; in the experiential process, the power moves to the student-student actions become crucial to
the success of the class. For example, the student has significant responsibility in an exercise using leaderless discussion-it can only be effective if the student feels comfortable, thus allowing him to exhibit his
normal behavior. The student must also feel comfortable providing feedback about other students’ behavior.
In previous research [ 8 ] it was reported that an integrated didacticexperiential approach resulted in higher student exam scores than a lecture-discussion section although the students perceived that they
learned more in the lecture course. The present research goes one step
further and suggests the significant role of the teacher-student relationship is in terms of the students’ perception of course effectiveness. If the
relationship is positive, the students’ perception of course effectiveness
tends to be more positive. Note should be taken of the incongruency
between student perception of effectiveness and test results. In earlier
research [8] reported in this paper, the students “learned” more in the
experiential course than in a lecture course but perceived that they
“learned” less in the experiential class. Colleges still tend to use student
evaluations that these studies suggest are perceptions of effectiveness
and not valid measures of the learning that took place.
The findings of the present research parallels the research results from
other educational settings. The role of enthusiasm toward the course
content and process, being able to have and communicate empathy, and
unconditionality of regard seems to be as crucial, if not more so, in
experiential learning as it is in more traditional classes. These findings
also indicate the importance of controlling for the teacher’s ability to
form relationships and to create a comfortable environment for learning
when course assessments are attempted. Last, the findings in conjunction
with our previous research [ 8 ] , suggest that student evaluations are
biased by the students’ relationships with the teacher and are often also
relatively inaccurate in terms of what the student actually learned. In
order to have valid assessments of experiential learning methods, future
studies should control for this variable.
zyxwv
zyxw
References
1. Aspy, D. N. and Hadlock, W., “The Effect of Empathy, Warmth and Genuine-
ness on Elementary Students’ Reading Achievement,” unpublished thesis.
2. Belasco, J. A., Glassman, A. M., and Alutto, J. A,, “Experiential Learning:
Some Classroom Results,” Academy of Management Proceedings 235-241
(1973).
3. Butler, J. L., and Keys, L. B.,“A Comparative Study of Simulation and Traditional Methods of Supervisory Training in Human Resource Development,”
Academy of Management Proceedings 302-5 (1973).
4. Christensen, C. M., “Relationships Between Pupil Achievement, Pupil AffectNeed, Teacher Warmth and Teacher Permissiveness,” Journal of Educational
Psychology, 51:169-174 (1960).
5. Haslett, B. J., “Dimensions of Teaching Effectiveness: A Student Perspective,”
Journal of Experimental Psychology 44:4-10 (Summer 1976).
6. Hawkes, G. R., and Egbert, R. L., “Personal Values and the Empathis Responses: Their Relationships,” journal of Educational Psychology 45:469476 (1954).
zyxwvut
16
zyxwvut
zyxwvut
L. Kelley a n d A. Whatley
7. Hicks, H. G., and Popp, G. E., “An Experimental Approach to Teaching Business Policy Learning Environment,” Academy of Management Proceedings
277-280 (1972).
8. Kelley, L., “An Experiential Evaluation of an Integrated Didactic-Experiential
Approach for Teaching Personnel Management,” Journal of Experiential
Learning a n d Simulation, accepted for publication.
9. Thistlewaite, D. L., and Wheeler, N., “Effects of Teacher and Peer Subcultures
Upon Student Aspirations,” Journal of Educational Psychology 57:35-47
(1966).
10. Truax, C. B., and Carkuff, R. R., Toward Effective Counseling an d Psychotherapy: Training a n d Practice (Marin Alexander, Ed.]. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1966, p. 112.
11. Wolfe, J., “ A Comparative Evaluation of the Experiential Approach as a Business Policy Learning Environment,” Academy of Management Journal 18:442452 (Sept. 1975).
zyxwv
Experiential Classes and the Student’s
Perception of Course Effectiveness
Lane Kelley
zyxwv
University of Hawaii
Arthur Whatley
New Mexico State University
During the last several years, a number of aiticles have been published
dealing with the effectiveness of experiential classes. Regretfully, the
majority of these studies are attempting to make a unidimensional assessment of a multidimensional phenomena. In the majority of cases,
the researchers have relied upon student evaluations to assess the
course’s effectiveness. Course effectiveness is a significant issue, especially for “innovative” classes. Courses that are taught in unorthodox
ways are suspect. This study was conducted to analyze the relationship
between the teacherstudent relationship and the student’s perception
of course effectiveness. The review of related research suggested that the
teacher-student relationship is important in lecture classes in grade
school, adult education classes, and in college students’ choice of major.
A review of the research on the effectiveness of the experiential approach
provides mixed results, but none of these studies have controlled for the
teacherstudent relationship. The research in the present study suggests
that the emotional relationship between the teacher and student is related to the students’ perception of the effectiveness of the experiential
method.
Introduction During the last decade management education teaching methods have
zyx
z
zyxwvut
experienced a virtual revolution. In previous times the prevailing teaching methodology was the lecture-discussion and, if the teacher was in-
Address reprint requests to: Arthur Whately, College of Business Adrnin. 9 Economics, New
Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003.
Journal of Experiential Learning and Sirnulotion 2, 17-28 (1980)
@ Elsevier North Holland, Inc., 1980
52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, New York 10017
9
0162-6574/80/010009-08$01.75
10
zyxwvut
L. Kelley and A. Whatley
Lane Kelley is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Hawaii.
His articles have appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of
Collective Bargaining, and Industrial Relations. He is a coauthor of Personnel
Management in Action (West, 1977).He is a member of the Academy of Management and the Association for Business Simulation a n d Experiential Learning.
novative, perhaps cases and case discussions would be used. Today it is
not unusual to find sociodrama and individual analysis of group roles,
group dynamics, individual and group decision-making, role playing,
and other human relation skill building exercises used in the college
classroom. These are generally referred to as “experiential” techniques.
The purpose of the present research is to analyze the role of the teacherstudent relationship and the students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of
experiential exercises. This is a significant question in that the “student
evaluation” has become important in many business schools as a measure of a teacher’s effectiveness. The present research examines in specific the teacher-student relationship and what it contributes to the students’ perception of the course’s effectiveness.
zyx
Related Research Thistlewaite [9]reported that National Merit Scholars considered one of
the critical variables influencing their choice of a field to be the instructor’s enthusiasm. Three studies illustrate the importance of the teacherstudent relationship in elementary education. Christensen [41 found a
significant relationship between the quality of the teacher-student relationship and the student’s level of achievement in tests of vocabulary
and arithmetic. Hawkes and Egbert [6] found a significant relationship
between the degree of the teacher’s empathetic understanding of the
student and the student’s ratings of teacher competence. Aspy [I] studied
the teacher-student relationship and found that it was related to the
student’s gain in achievement. In the data the effect of the teacher-student relationship was as great as the effect of the range of intelligence
in the classes. Truax [lo] found that the vocational-rehabilitation instructor-client relationship was related to the client’s class attendance, attitude toward the course, and his performance on tests. The clients were
basically young adults.
Haslett [5] did a study of university students to determine the factors
students perceived as being effectiveness criteria of professors. Five factors were reported:
z
1. Studenvteacher rapport
2. Instructional style (included in this is knowledge of material, orga-
nization, and interestingness)
3. Communicative style (included was congeniality and informalness)
4. Stimulation
5. Personalization-teacher’s
ability to add a personalized human quality to teaching and to make class material relevant to students
From the above research studies, it might be concluded that the
“personal” element that the instructor establishes in the classroom is
very important for choosing majors, cognitive learning in elementary
school, and also accomplishing some other behavioral objectives.
The Teacher-Student Relationship in Experiential Classes
11
zyxw
zyxwv
Arthur Whatley is an Associate Professor of Management at New Mexico State
University. His articles have appeared in the Academy of Management Journal,
Business and Society, The Personnel Administrator, and other journals. He I S a
c oa ut ho r of Personnel Management in Action (West, 1977).
Assessments of the
Effectiveness of
Experiential
Learning
zyxwv
A number of journals, especially the Journal of Experiential Learning
and Simulation, have published articles describing the effectiveness of
experiential learning. Of importance to the present paper is how they
operationally define effectiveness. One research article in the Academy
of Management Journal [11] reported that a business policy simulaticm
computer game team which had gone through Kolb et al.’s Organizational Psychology: An Experiential Approach did not do better than a
team which had not gone through the exercises. The reader should be
reminded that Kolb’s book emphasizes individual psychology and not
group dynamics, nor group problem solving and, therefore, is not especially relevant to business games. Teachers who have experience with
both management policy games and Kolb’s exercises probably wouldn’t
have expected any type of relationship.
Another study of the experiential approach in a business policy course
reported that the use of “the” experiential approach to teaching business
policy appears to be a very effective teaching device and that secret
ballots of students the next semester chose the experiential approach [7].
A third study of the effectivenessof “the” e x p ~ e % ~ ~ F G i in
c ~ ~ e d
a business policy course concluded that the experiential method pro-
not allow for any conclusions about “experiential” learning. All of the
above studies relied upon the student’s perceptions of course effectiveness rather than more objective criteria.
Butler and Keys [3] studied the relative effectiveness of a simulation
laboratory and a traditional lecture-discussion course. Two groups of
participants in each course were pretested as to their knowledge of facts
and concepts regarding human relations and human resource development. Posttest measurements of the two groups on the same instruments
revealed gains that
c&$e,disgussion) group. The experimental (simulation) group measured highly significant gaim-C?mmensurate_with
the significant knowledge gains by
the experimental participants, the responses from their subordinates over
a two-month period indicated significant changes in their perceptions of
their supervisor’s behavior. This was not true of the contr
authors conclude that the simulation meth
more
the traditional method in i
behav
ticipants.-Xheir research a n
study ‘used-either cognitive
a n b o r behavioral change criteria.
Kelley [ 8 ] compared an integrated didactic-experiential approach for
teaching a personnel management course to a lecture-discussion course
and reported that students were more “satisfied” with the experiential
zyxwvu
zyxwvuts
zyxwvuts
12
,
L. Kelley and A. Whatley
course, and scored higher on an exam designed to measure knowle
of the subject matter. The students also reported that participation in
exercises was more interesting and stimulating than lectures but t
didn’t feel that they necessarily learned more. This is important because
the students in the experimental course scored higher on an exam designed to measure their knowledge of the subject, which is just the opposite of their perceptions. A review of the research illustrates the importance of the student’s perception of course effectiveness. The purpose
of the present study is to examine the student’s perception of course
effectiveness in terms of the student’s relationship with the instructor.
Hypotheses, In order to analyze the teacher-student relationship and the students’
Methodology, and perceptions of course effectiveness, the following hypotheses were deResults fined. “Students who felt comfortable with the instructor” would be positively related to their perceptions:
H, : that experiential exercises are beneficial for understanding the top
covered in the course.
H2: that less class time should be spent in lecture.
H,: that more class time should be spent in experiential exercises.
H,: that experiential exercises make the topics more interesting.
H,: that experiential exercises should be used in more business courses.
The above hypotheses were also tested in terms o
e degree to which
students felt comfortable with the teacher.
The research was conducted in three undergraduate sections of personnel management. Whatley and Kelley’s Personnel Management in
classtime.
At this point each hypothesis along with the relevant data from Table
pothesis is supportable.
z
zy
1 will be presented and discussed in terms of whether or not the hy-
HI: Experiential exercises are beneficial for understanding the topics
covered in the course.
XI: Feeling comfortable with the instructor-Pearsonian r = 0.
Significant at 0.01 level.
X p : Teacher-student relationship-Pearsonian r = 0.3069
Significant at 0.03 level.
These data provide both statistical and directional support for the
hypothesis. The degree to which students feel comfortable with the in-
he Teacher-Student Relationship in Experiential Classes
teacher (X,)
zyxw
zyxwvutsrq
QZ Exercise beneficial
for understanding
Q3 More time in
Q4
More time in
exercises
1.0000
S=O.OOl
0.3467
0.4365
S=O.OOl
S=O.OOl
S=O.OOl
S=O.OOl
Q5 Exercises made
0.6687
topic interesting
02540
S=0.016
0.2922
S=0.005
more
business courses
Q6 Exercises in
Q7 Teacher-student
gnificant at 0.003 level.
zyxwv
similar. The better the professor-student relationship, the less lecture
time is desired.
El3: More class time should be spent in experiential exercises.
XI: Feeling comfortable with the instructor-Pearsonian r
Not significant at any reasonable level.
Pearsonian r = 0.2540
= 0.0966
d in mixed feelings. The relationship
between feeling comfortable with the instructor was not found to be
significantly related to the need for spending more class time in experiential exercises. This could be interpreted to mean that the 40% of time
already spent is adequate in students’ views.
This lack of significance did not hold up when the professor-student
14
zyxwvut
L. Kelley and A. Whatley
zyx
zy
relationship was correlated with the need for more time in experiential
exercises. This statistic was both significant and in a positive direction.
H,: Experiential exercises made the topic interesting.
XI: Feeling comfortable with the instructor-Pearsonian r
Significant at 0.011 level.
X,: Teacher-student relationship-Pearsonian r = 0.2922
Significant at 0.005 level.
=
0.2677
The students’ view that experiential exercises made the topic interesting was significantly and positively correlated with the degree to
which students felt comfortable with the instructor and the professorstudent relationship was viewed as positive. These two independent variables, then, are related to students’ perceptions regarding the interesting
nature of experiential exercises.
zyxwv
H5: Experiential exercises should be used in more business courses.
XI: Feeling comfortable with the instructor-Pearsonian r = 0.1901
Significant at 0.074 level.
Xz: Teacher-student relationship-Pearsonian r = 0.2261
Significant at 0.033 level.
Here, too, both independent variables are found to be significantly
related, in the desired positive direction, with students’ perception that
exercises should be used in more courses.
Discussion
The effectiveness of a course can be defined in many ways, including
knowledge acquisition, problem-solving skills, value change, attitude
change, and behavioral change. Regretfully, most colleges have not exerted the effort to assess any of these types of measures, relying instead
on student evaluations of their courses and staff. The findings of the
present research suggest that the student-teacher relationship, and how
comfortable the student is with the teacher, is significantly related to
whether the student thought that (1)the experiential exercises were beneficial for understanding the concepts introduced in the course, (2) more
time should be spent in experiential exercises, (3) the experiential exercises made the topics more interesting, (4) experiential exercises
should be in more business courses, and (5) it is inversely related to
spending more time in lecture. The student-teacher relationship is an
emotional phenomenon which appears to bias the student’s assessment
of the cognitive portions of the course. This may be of some importance
to those teachers concerned with course effectiveness in systems which
rely on student evaluations because the findings suggest that the student
is not only assessing the course but also his relationship with the instructor.
This “emotional contamination” of student evaluations seems to be
especially significant in experiential classes because of the reasons behind some individuals’ choice of experiential methods and the experiential process. Some teachers use experiential exercises because they
want a more passive role with the students, but the present research
suggests that an active relationship and making the students comfortable
in their relationship is important if the teacher wants good course evaluations. It seems also that the experiential process, itself, requires the
The Teacher-Student Relationship in Experiential Classes
15
student to feel comfortable in the relationship because the teacher moves
from the lecturer-authoritarian-position
to a facilitator role. In the lecture method, the power comes from the lecturer; in the experiential process, the power moves to the student-student actions become crucial to
the success of the class. For example, the student has significant responsibility in an exercise using leaderless discussion-it can only be effective if the student feels comfortable, thus allowing him to exhibit his
normal behavior. The student must also feel comfortable providing feedback about other students’ behavior.
In previous research [ 8 ] it was reported that an integrated didacticexperiential approach resulted in higher student exam scores than a lecture-discussion section although the students perceived that they
learned more in the lecture course. The present research goes one step
further and suggests the significant role of the teacher-student relationship is in terms of the students’ perception of course effectiveness. If the
relationship is positive, the students’ perception of course effectiveness
tends to be more positive. Note should be taken of the incongruency
between student perception of effectiveness and test results. In earlier
research [8] reported in this paper, the students “learned” more in the
experiential course than in a lecture course but perceived that they
“learned” less in the experiential class. Colleges still tend to use student
evaluations that these studies suggest are perceptions of effectiveness
and not valid measures of the learning that took place.
The findings of the present research parallels the research results from
other educational settings. The role of enthusiasm toward the course
content and process, being able to have and communicate empathy, and
unconditionality of regard seems to be as crucial, if not more so, in
experiential learning as it is in more traditional classes. These findings
also indicate the importance of controlling for the teacher’s ability to
form relationships and to create a comfortable environment for learning
when course assessments are attempted. Last, the findings in conjunction
with our previous research [ 8 ] , suggest that student evaluations are
biased by the students’ relationships with the teacher and are often also
relatively inaccurate in terms of what the student actually learned. In
order to have valid assessments of experiential learning methods, future
studies should control for this variable.
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References
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L. Kelley a n d A. Whatley
7. Hicks, H. G., and Popp, G. E., “An Experimental Approach to Teaching Business Policy Learning Environment,” Academy of Management Proceedings
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