Internet Learning Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 118

Internet Learning Journal – Volume 4, Issue 1 – Spring 2015 count the number of immediacy terms and to identify whether the textbooks referenced prominent peer-reviewed scholarly immediacy studies, ones including the word immediacy in their title and/or abstract. The independent variable was the textbook publication year. The dependent variable was the quantity of references to immediacy the authors may have cited. Griggs et al. (2004), a seminal study to the current online educational textbook study, asserted that introductory psychology textbooks were almost entirely idiosyncratic, meaning these textbooks contained few or no scholarly citations. Not only were introductory psychology textbooks almost entirely void of scholarly peer-review citations, but also chapter titles and subheadings rarely displayed agreement on classic terminology and the sequence in which topics appeared. While the purpose of the online education textbook study was to examine whether independently authored online education textbooks also acknowledged scholarly peer reviewed studies, the limitation was only devoted to scholarly immediacy studies. The primary research question formulated for the study appeared as follows: Does the complete textbook sample offer a homogeneous or idiosyncratic approach to the usage of immediacy based on the number of scholarly immediacy citations referenced? The content analysis relative to the primary research question indicated that the sample is reflective of an idiosyncratic editorial approach to immediacy. In addition, none of the textbooks in the sample included reference to any prominent peer-reviewed immediacy studies defined as those with the term immediacy in the title and in the abstract. The null hypothesis did not hold true since no scholarly immediacy studies were identified: H 0 1: No difference exists between the two sets of textbooks in the number of references and citations devoted to teacher immediacy regardless of the publication timeframe. H 1 1: The more recent set of textbooks contains a larger number of scholarly studies related to teacher immediacy because of the publication of more prominent scholarly immediacy studies between 2003 and 2007. The second research question of the study concerned the number of paragraphs containing immediacy-related terminology: Among a set of recent (2003 to 2007) and a set of older (1999 to 2002) online education textbooks, what percentage of the first four chapters relates to both broad and minor teacher immediacy based on paragraph counts? The content analysis revealed that approximately 34% of immediacy terminology appears in the sample dated 2003 to 2007; approximately 6% more than the earlier set dated 1999 to 2002. The majority of immediacy terminology discovered comprised terms from the minor category related to timely instructor responses. 116 !