| When students are looking for pre-class information about their prospective teachers, they can often find information through computer-mediated and face-to-face sources. This 2-study investigation compared the effects of teacher evaluations posted via the Internet with evaluations obtained from face-to-face conversations on students' affect toward the teacher and enrollment decisions. In Study 1, participants read 1 of 4 hypothetical scenarios and reported their responses to these scenarios. In Study 2, participants completed a survey based on recalling a situation where they found pre-class information about a teacher. Recognizing that positive or negative teacher evaluations may be mediating variables, message valance was controlled. It was hypothesized that computer-mediated sources of information would influence students more than face-to-face sources of information on their affect and course selection decisions. The results from both studies indicate, however, that contrary to the hypotheses, students were persuaded equally by computer-mediated and face-to-face evaluations of their teachers. |
