Brief Measure of Student-Instructor Rapport Predicts Student Success in Online Courses

Authors

William J. Lammers, University of Central ArkansasFollow
J. Arthur Gillaspy Jr., University of Central ArkansasFollow

Abstract

At all educational levels, researchers show a positive link between student-teacher rapport and student outcomes. However, few scales have been developed to measure rapport at the university level and no study has examined the link between student-instructor rapport and objective measures of student learning in online courses. We developed a brief, 9-item rapport scale, the Student-Instructor Rapport Scale-9 (SIRS-9), and administered it, along with an existing “connectedness” scale, to university students taking online courses. Student outcome measures included three course evaluation questions and student’s final course grade. Results support the internal consistency, concurrent validity, and predictive validity of SIRS-9 scores. The research and practical usefulness of the SIRS-9 are discussed.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Lammers, William J. and Gillaspy, J. Arthur Jr. (2013) "Brief Measure of Student-Instructor Rapport Predicts Student Success in Online Courses," International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Vol. 7: No. 2, Article 16.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2013.070216