1. Instructors: Transformational Leaders in the Classroom
Catherine E. West, MA
Communication Management

2. Objectives
 Relate student learning outcomes to
instructor key performance expectations
 List specific instructor actions affecting
cognitive learning, affective learning,
and student motivation to learn
 Identify forms of feedback in the
classroom creating student intrinsic
motivation

3. Training Goals
 We want to become Transformational
Leaders in the classroom.
 We want to inspire intrinsic motivation in
our students.
 We want to understand how our actions
as instructors affect learning and student
motivation in the online classroom.

4. Cognitive Learning, Affective Learning and Motivation to
Learn

5. What is Cognitive Learning?
 “Cognitive learning is about enabling people to
learn by using their reason, intuition and
perception. This technique is often used to
change peoples' behaviour. But people's
behaviour is influenced by many factors such
as culture, upbringing, education and
motivation. Therefore cognitive learning
involves understanding how these factors
influence behaviour and then using this
information to develop learning programmes.”
(Martin, 2006, para 3)

6. What is Affective Learning?
 “Affective learning outcomes involve
attitudes, motivation, and values. The
expression of these often involves
statements of opinions, beliefs, or an
assessment of worth.”
(Miller, 2005)

7. Motivation “Energizes Behavior
and Gives it Direction” (Huang, 2003)
 Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation
driving an individual to succeed for
internal, personal reasons rather than
external, extrinsic reasons such as
grades or recognition.
(Zaharias, 2009, para 1)

8. “Transforming the existing order of things as well as
addressing the students’ needs for meaning and
development” (Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, p.297)

9. What does it mean to be a
Transformational Leader in the
classroom?
 Effectively manage your classroom
 “Facilitate maximum student
involvement”
 “Enhance student learning”
(Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, p.296)

10. Traits of Transformational
Leaders
 “More concerned with student
empowerment than classroom control
strategies”
 Perceived as being more effective and
rated as better performing by their students
 “Exhibits the synthesis of three
components: charisma, individualized
consideration and intellectual stimulation”
(Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, p.297)

11. Charismatic Leaders
 “Considered to be dynamic, hard-
working, confident, attractive,
competent, and successful”
 “A sub-component of charisma is
inspiration”
(Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, p.297)

12. Individualized Consideration
 “Associated with instructors who treat
students different according to their
individual needs and capabilities”
 “Related to thoughtfulness for others
and the mentorship of students”
(Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, p.297)

13. Intellectual Stimulation
 “Associated with instructors that
stimulate extra effort among their
students by forcing their students to
rethink ideas they may have never
questioned before”
(Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, p.297)

14. Outcomes of Transformational
Leadership
 Cognitive Learning, Affective Learning,
and Motivation
 “Extra effort from students”
 Increased student perception of
instructor effectiveness
 Increased student satisfaction with
instructors as leaders
(Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, p.298)

15. Overall
 “Transformational Leadership is
positively related to student learning
outcomes, student participation and
perceptions of teacher credibility”
(Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, p.301)

16. Practicing Immediate Behavior, Utilizing Affective Feedback and Instilling
Intrinsic Motivation in Students:
“The difference between knowing and teaching is communication”
(Edwards & Helvie-Mason, 2010, p.175)

17. What is Immediate Behavior?
 “Immediacy Behaviors represent instructors’
attempts to reduce the social distance
between themselves and their students” (p.42)
 Immediacy Behavior includes both nonverbal
and verbal behaviors
 Nonverbal Immediacy: eye contact, smiling,
movement around the classroom
 Verbal Immediacy: speaking examples, “such
as including personal examples, using humor,
providing and inviting feedback, addressing
students by name” (p.43)
(Arbaaugh, 2001)

18. How Can Instructors
Demonstrate Immediacy in the
Virtual Environment?
 “Use humor
 Encourage discussion and feedback
 Address students by name in
text-based discussion
 Emoticons
 Audio clips”
(Arbaaugh, 2001, p.44)

19. Achieving Immediacy in the
Discussion Board
 “Relying simply on asking questions in the discussion board will
not yield results” (Arbaaugh, 2001, p.46)
 “Instructors can influence student interaction by:
1. Providing personal examples of the class material
2. Demonstrating a sense of humor about the course material
and or the web based course experience
3. Inviting students to receive feedback from them and from each
other” (Arbaaugh, 2001, p.46)
4. Responding quickly, often and always in a friendly tone
 Encouraging student discussion in the classroom, even if it is
not course related, creating a more collective classroom effort.
 Stay in touch with your students by asking them how the
course is going and how they feel about the class so far.
(Conway, Easton, & Schmidt, 2005)

20. Affective Feedback = Immediate
Feedback
 “Feedback must be conveyed in a
positive, encouraging and non-critical
way in order to facilitate learners’
motivation” (Zaharias, 2009, para 30)
 Relatively subtle differences in wording
of written messages have been proven
to effect student motivation and
perceptions (Katt & Collins, 2007)

21. Immediacy in Written Cues
 “‘I thought’ or ‘I feel’
 Include the student’s name or use a
personal pronoun “you” or “your”
 Give provisional feedback versus certain
feedback: Your conclusion could have
been stronger (provisional) versus
conclusion is weak (certain)”
(Katt & Collins, 2007, para 6)

22. Immediacy in Written Cues
 Provisionality is a form of verbal
immediacy that can be achieved in the
online classroom
 Immediate and provisional feedback
requires 48% more words than non-
immediate, certain feedback
 Cast written feedback in terms that are
participatory, disclosing and provisional
(Katt & Collins, 2007)

23. Immediate Feedback
 Provisional feedback is less likely to
warrant defensive responses from
students.
 Students receiving immediate and
provisional critique reported higher state
motivation and higher affective learning
(Katt & Collins, 2007)

24. Enhancing Feedback
 Provide regular, individualized feedback
 “Include both positive reinforcement and
concrete suggestions for improvement”
 “It is important to acknowledge sincere
efforts made”, provide precise,
informative feedback regarding current
performance
 “Encourage an emphasis on progress”
(Huang, 2003, para 11)

25. Examples of Affective, Immediate
Feedback
 Marcy, I feel your paper was well researched since you
used notable sources like The Journal of American
Medical Association, instead of Wikipedia. I thought your
sentence structure was exceptional and liked how you
used an advanced vocabulary. I feel your APA format
could be stronger in your next assignment.
 Tom, I feel like you have an amazing understanding of the
Endocrine System! You got almost every question in that
section correct! Your understanding of the Senses could
be stronger for the final. Let me know if you want to
discuss the Senses more in depth. You can reach me on
my cell to arrange a good time to re-cap some of the
things you may still be working to master. I can see you
developing as a scholar and think you should be
commended on your progress! I look forward to talking to
you soon and seeing you in class.

26. What Types of Feedback are
Important to the Students?
1. Specific Feedback: “Students have the most
positive attitude toward interactions which can
provide them with specific feedback or information
on tasks”
2. Affective Feedback: “Students ranked affective
interaction as the second most preferred type of
interaction. This indicates that when they learn
online, in addition to content-oriented feedback,
students like to have motivational and emotional
support”
3. Collaborative Interaction: “The presence in the
classroom discussions and the virtual office”
(Hao and Lui, 2006, para 13)

27. Applying Transformational Leadership and Immediate
Behaviors in Virginia College Classrooms: Producing
Desired Student Learning Outcomes

28. Instructor Key Performance
Expectations
 In every move, ask yourself the three most important
questions for a Transformational Leader: Am I being
charismatic? Am I providing Individualized
Consideration? Am I creating Intellectual Stimulation?
 Respond Quickly and Consistently!
 Provide immediate and provisional feedback in the grade
book and on student assignments. Remember, students
feel feedback is most important when it hosts concrete
examples and provides emotional support and motivation,
not just right or wrong answers or “Good Job”!
 In the discussion board, offer authentic participation by
providing personal experience examples, using humor,
and utilizing individualized consideration in your
responses. It is important to be seen in the discussion.
As an instructor you need to exhibit presence in your
course.

29. Instructor Key Performance
Expectations
 Post Weekly Announcements bridging course
material and inspiring an aspect of intellectual
stimulation.
 Work towards adapting your engagement
opportunities for then needs of each class.
Pay attention to what works and what does
not.
 Make time to reach out to students and
exercise individualized consideration
 Implement an environment for intrinsic
motivation through immediate classroom
behaviors.

30. Work Cited
 Arbaaugh, J. B. ( 2001). How instructor immediacy behaviors affect student satisfaction
and learning in web-based courses. Business Communication Quarterly, 64(4), 42-64.
 Bolkan, S. and Goodboy, A (2009). Transformational leadership in the classroom:
Fostering student learning, student participation, and teacher credibility. Journal of
Instructional Psychology, 36(4), 296-306.
 Conway, R., Easton, S. and Schmidt, W. ( 2005). Strategies for enhancing student
interaction and immediacy in online courses. Business Communication Journal, 68(1),
23-35.
 Edwards, J. and Helvie-Mason, L. (2010). Technology and instructional communication:
Student usage and perceptions of virtual office hours. Journal of Online Learning and
Teaching, 6(1), 174-186.
 Frisby, B. and Myers, S. (2008). The relationship among perceived instructor rapport,
student participation, and student learning outcomes. Texas Speech Communication
Journal, 33(1), 27-34.
 Hao, Y. and Liu, M. (2006). Students’ attitudes toward online interaction. Academic
Exchange Quarterly, 10(4), 75-79.
 Hess, J. and Smythe, M. (2001). Is teacher immediacy actually related to student
cognitive learning? Communication Studies, 52(3), 197-220.

31. Works Cited, continued
 Huang, L. (2003). Ten pointers for enhancing learners’ motivation. Business
Communication Quarterly, 66(4), 88-96.
 Katt, J. and Collins, S. (2007). Achieving immediacy with written cues. Academic
Exchange Quarterly, 11(2), 91-97.
 Martin, S. (2006). Definition of cognitive learning. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from
http://ezinearticles.com/?Definition-of-Cognitive-Learning&id=365039
 Miller, M. (2005). Teaching and Learning in Affective Domain. In M. Orey (Ed.),
Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved May 12,
2010, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
 Zaharias, P. (2009). Usability in the context of e-learning: A framework
augmenting ‘traditional’ usability constructs with instructional design and
motivation to learn. International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction,
5(4), 37-50.