Effects of communication environment, immediacy, and communication apprehension on cognitive and affective learning

This study explores relationships among immediacy, communication apprehension, and learning outcomes between two class formats: mixed-size sections (i.e., large-lecture/break-out sections) versus self-contained sections. The results indicated that students' cognitive learning outcomes were slightly greater in the mixed-size sections versus self-contained sections. In addition, affective learning decreased for all students from the first day of class, though it decreased slightly more for students in the large-lecture/break-out sections. When the teacher was perceived as highly immediate, however, there was no difference in affective learning due to format.