Abstract

This study examines underlying factors that influence undergraduate students’ willingness to enhance communication with theirinstructor by comparing the frequency of e-mail and face-to-face interaction between students and instructors. Data was collectedthrough a survey of 322 undergraduate journalism students at a large Midwestern university. The findings showed that the morepassive students were in expressing their opinion during the class, the less likely they were to send e-mails to their instructor (Coef. =-0.180, p < .01) or to communicate with their instructor face-to-face (Coef. = -0.262, p < .01). The findings also showed that themore students described their personality as “shy,” the less likely they were to e-mail their instructor (Coef. = -0.157, p < .05) orcommunicate with their instructor face-to-face (Coef. = -0.210, p < .01). It is noteworthy that the degrees of both passivity andshyness had a more negative effect on the probability of face-to-face interaction than they did on email interaction. In summary, emailusage follows similar broader patterns of social interaction, rather than introducing a different trend in communication. Thisfinding implies that the importance of e-mail should not be exaggerated as a communication tool for reticent students.