Instructional Communication

Instructional communication is an area of study that focuses on the communicative factors that influence the teaching–learning process as it occurs across subject matter, grade levels (e.g., K–12, college, and university), and instructional settings (e.g., the college classroom, the corporate training [Page 712]room). Based on the collective research conducted among educational psychology, pedagogy, and communication studies scholars, instructional communication researchers explore, either singly or jointly, how student learning strategies, instructor teaching strategies and classroom management practices, instructor and student characteristics, and the initiation and maintenance of instructor–student relationships affect the teaching–learning process. This entry provides an overview of the research conducted by instructional communication researchers, identifies some of the research questions posed by instructional communication researchers, and discusses the research methods generally used by instructional ...