EFFECTS OF USE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF RHETORICAL QUESTIONS ON STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF COLLEGE TEACHERS

by BROWN, DANNY ANDERSON

To provide normative data and assess the impact of teacher use of rhetorical questions on student evaluations of teachers, 101 randomly selected college class sessions were audio tape recorded with teacher consent (while naive about true researcher intent). Questions were classified as interrogative or rhetorical and, if rhetorical, further labeled as agreement, concession, or information questions. Up to three students per class session rated their teachers on scales from -10 to 10 representing teaching dimensions. The ratings and teacher question use were compared by correlation and regression analysis. Findings revealed frequent use of all types except concession questions. Weak negative associations between teacher use of rhetorical questions and student ratings of teachers did not support the conclusions of previous experimental research.