Internet Learning Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 119

Internet Learning Journal – Volume 4, Issue 1 – Spring 2015
The third research question involved the specific term immediacy: How many
instances of the word immediacy appear in each of the online teaching textbooks, and which
broad or minor immediacy terms feature most prominently in the first four chapters? Not a
single instance of immediacy appears in the textbook sample. The terms interaction, time,
and collaboration are the most popular within any single book at 59, 58, and 38 instances
respectively. The terms interaction and collaboration were categorized as low-broad
nomenclature, meaning these terms are more closely related to the minor immediacy
category, unlike the immediacy terms feelings and closeness located in the broad
terminology scale category.
The fourth research question appeared as follows: How prominent is teacher
immediacy terminology in chapter titles? Of the 163 possible first four chapter title headings
available, only 10 titles include a low-broad immediacy term, collaboration. One chapter
title includes a high-broad immediacy categorical term, thoughts. Regardless of the location
of the terminology in the first four chapter titles, only 18 instances of immediacy
nomenclature appear. In sum, only approximately 10% of all terms in chapter headings
relate to immediacy; thus, immediacy nomenclature is not prominent or consistent from one
textbook to another.
The results appear similar to the results of the study of higher education introductory
psychology textbooks by Griggs et al. (2004): Textbooks tend to reflect an idiosyncratic
rather than homogeneous approach. However, the test for online education textbooks was
only relative to immediacy scholars, not scholarship in general. Similar to the introductory
psychology textbook sample, online education textbooks reflect little agreement on
terminology in chapter titles or chapter locations.
The results of the study indicate for online instructors textbooks do not necessarily
expose practitioners to the best practice of immediacy as scholars defined the term.
Authorship scholars claim that textbook content is selected depending on the grounding of
the author’s school of thought. Three schools of thought have been identified.
First, DeGroot and Marshak (1978) claimed, “textbooks are written, for the most
part, by academicians without too much practical experience and are frequently based on
rehashes of other texts before them by like professors” (p. 17). Second, Baker (1986)
includes describing “the textbook, its authorship, and its evaluation as combining the
structural aspects of teaching, research, and publication” (as cited in Arnold, 1993, p. 42).
Third, Coppola et al. (2002) maintained, “Instructors tend to get their training on the job” (p.
186). The results of this study were only guided by Arnold’s school of textbook
development thought--that of a homogeneous approach. The study was not designed to test
or examine the personal experience of the authors.
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