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.
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