EFFECTS OF INTERACTION ANALYSIS TRAINING ON STUDENT ATTITUDES IN RELIGIOUS CLASSROOMS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) the relationship of Flanders' Interaction Analysis (Flanders) to the attitudes of students in released-time seminary classes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as measured by the Student's Evaluation of Seminary Instrument (SES) and (2) the relationship of scores on the SES before and after training in Flanders. Released-time seminary teachers of the LDS Church from the Tucson and Phoenix areas were asked to participate in this study. From those who agreed to participate, half were randomly assigned to a control group, and half were assigned to an experimental group. SES scores and tape recordings of class discussions were obtained from two of the classes of each teacher. The teachers in the experimental group attended training sessions on Flanders. After training in Flanders, SES scores and tape recordings of class discussions from the same classes described above were obtained. The tape recordings were coded and ratios were figured. From Flanders ratios and SES scores, t-tests and Pearson's Product-Moment correlations were used to produce the test statistics. The findings of this study were: (1) there was no significant correlation between Flanders and the SES; (2) there was, however, enough correlation to show that (a) Flanders ratios which indicate indirect teacher influence are related to relatively high scores on the SES and (b) Flanders ratios which indicate direct teacher influence are related to relatively low scores on the SES; (3) there was no significant increase in Flanders ratios among the experimental group receiving the training in Flanders as described in this study; and (4) the training in Flanders described in this study had no apparent relationship to SES scores. There appears to be a relationship between direct and indirect patterns of teaching influence, as defined by Flanders, and student attitudes in the released-time seminary classroom of the LDS Church, as measured by the SES. Further studies are necessary to investigate the extent of this relationship. Further studies that investigate the relationship between teacher behavior in the seminary classroom and a more vigorous training program in Flanders are also recommended.