Scholars of communication, teaching, and learning have been calling for more research on the instructor-student relationship to be studied from an interpersonal perspective. To answer these calls, we conducted a two-step scale development study, first to derive participant-generated responses concerning undergraduate student relational maintenance…

Guided by an affective theoretical process, we surveyed college students (N = 397) to examine the effect of college instructors' lecture misbehaviors on students' emotional interest directly, and indirectly through affect toward the course content, among students who varied in their desire to master the course material (i.e., first- and…

Instructor (mis)behavior research has traditionally been empirically dominated by White student samples, limiting the voice of underrepresented student populations. The present study extends scholarship on instructor (mis)behaviors by magnifying the voices of students of color with an intersectional lens. Utilizing surveys, participants (N = 154)…

This study was conducted to model how teacher misbehaviors associate with reductions in students' sustained attention. Participants (N = 423 college students) responded to measures of their perceptions of teacher antagonism, affect for their instructor, intrinsic motivation to learn, and sustained attention throughout the semester. Results of a…

Using Feminist Participatory Action Research, graduate and undergraduate students at a midsized, midwestern public university collaborated with investigators on welcoming and inclusive practices in the classroom through focus-group discussions. The research team conducted six focus-group sessions with 39 students from marginalized communities…

Guided by rhetorical and relational goals theory, this study explores medical students' preferences for effective teaching using a "build-a-professor" design. Using a budget methodology, medical students (N = 177) created their ideal clinical or nonclinical medical school educator by prioritizing 10 teaching behaviors and characteristics…

In this article, I offer a story, rendered in creative nonfiction, of my experience as a young and flustered college professor challenged by a defiant and disruptive graduate student. The story is followed by a critical reflection of the experience where I examine the role of communication and culture in regard to classroom disruptions and assess…

Every instructor has experienced teaching failures in the classroom. We often conceptualize those experiences as emanating from self, and sometimes we surmise the disconnect is on our student's end. However, rarely do we consider the impact of interference from an ill-spirited colleague, in my case, ill-spirited, racist colleagues. Professors of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate instructor messages following perceived misbehavior, as well as students' desired communication. Specifically, this study extends literature on accounts and sincere amends into the college classroom. Student descriptions of actual and desired instructor responses suggest that instructors most often…

Three studies (N = 1,346) detail the development of three theoretically grounded instruments operationalizing "instructor strictness." Using open-ended questionnaire data (n = 427), study 1 inductively derives an understanding of the instructor behaviors that students perceive as strict. These patterns of behavior are then condensed into…

In the current study, we applied self-determination theory to explore a potential explanation for how instructors' intellectually stimulating behaviors might influence student motivation. Undergraduate student participants (N = 418) responded to a questionnaire regarding their instructors' teaching behaviors and perceptions of their own of…

Instructors use humor in the classroom in numerous ways, including behaving stupidly, offering impersonations, manipulating their nonverbals, telling a story, joke, or pun, and using a costume or prop. How students decode their instructors' use of humor impacts their feelings about the course and their instructors. In this study, we investigated…

Guided by emotional response theory, this study examined how students' emotional responses mediated the relationship between their instructors' dramatic teaching behaviors (i.e., humor, self-disclosure, narrative) and their approach-avoidance behaviors (i.e., oral in-class participation, out-of-class communication, classroom citizenship…

Among other issues, social media has become a place to vent about deadlines, find new colleagues, identify research opportunities, and, yes, complain about students. Challenges due to social media use occur from sources both within and beyond the institution. In this piece, the author explores one threat of higher education's own making: when…

This study sought to generate a more robust understanding of teacher (in)authenticity. In other contexts, authenticity is regarded as a display of true self and has been positively linked to beneficial psychological (e.g., increased self-esteem) and social outcomes (e.g., higher relational satisfaction). However, what it means to be authentic in…