Initiating and maintaining student-instructor rapport in face-to-face classes

Abraham E. Flanigan, Emily Ray, Scott Titsworth, Jackie Hee-Young Kim, Angela M. Hosek

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

We examined college instructors’ perceptions of the behaviors and contextual factors that allow them to initiate and maintain rapport with their students. Phenomenological interviews with 21 college instructors indicated that instructors rely on different strategies and contextual factors to initiate and to maintain rapport with students across the semester. At the beginning of the semester, these instructors rely on a variety of connecting, common grounding, and information sharing behaviors and leverage baked-in rapport to cultivate a sense of rapport from their students. After rapport has been initiated, these instructors place more emphasis on attentive and courteous behaviors, while continuing to engage in connecting behaviors. Furthermore, these instructors identified personalized instruction and tactful responses to delicate situations as essential for maintaining a strong sense of rapport across the semester. Findings from the present study provide college instructors with a framework for initiating and maintaining rapport with students in their classrooms.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1620-1639
Number of pages20
JournalTeaching in Higher Education
Volume28
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Education

Keywords

  • College
  • instruction
  • student-instructor rapport
  • teaching

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