Nonverbal Behavior and Teaching Effectiveness. Final Report [microform] / George Breed

This report describes four experiments concerned with the effects of lecturer's degree of eye contact upon his teaching effectiveness, determined by the degree of audience retention of his message and by the audience's rating of the lecturer. In the first experiment, a male lecturer addressed small groups of female students in a laboratory setting. A 2 x 4 factorial design was employed with four levels of the lecturer's gaze at the eyes of the students (gaze, preferred gaze, excluded gaze, and no gaze). The students evaluated the lecturer and lecture and took a short test on content. Results showed that the lecturer's gaze had an effect on audience retention and on their perception of the lecturer. Experiment 2 used two levels of gaze and two levels of movement, with methodology and dependent variables similar to the first experiment but with large groups of male students in a classroom setting. No significant differences were found in the results. Experiment 3 investigated the effects of a videotaped lecturer's gaze and most subjects, regardless of experimental condition, indicated a positive change in attitude. Experiment 4 used similar procedure to the first experiment but with more subtle manipulations and greater control of the lecturer's gaze. No significant results were found. Future research should involve experimentation in actual classrooms to explore the nonverbal behavior of effective and ineffective teachers. (MBM)