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First impressions matter: the effects of third-party reports, experience, and qualifications on students' expectancies of a lecturer's competency.

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Title: First impressions matter: the effects of third-party reports, experience, and qualifications on students' expectancies of a lecturer's competency.
Authors: Heaviside-Brown, Helen J. (AUTHOR), Watkins, L. (AUTHOR)
Source: Studies in Higher Education. Jun2026, Vol. 51 Issue 6, p1221-1239. 19p.
Subjects: Teaching experience, Job qualifications, Experiential learning, Higher education, Teacher effectiveness, Teacher-student relationships, Psychology of students
Abstract: Expectancy formation is an inevitable consequence of lecturer-student interactions and these expectancies may influence student-lecturer relationships. Despite this, little is known about the formation of expectancies within HE. This study aimed to address this gap and investigate the effects of a lecturer's teaching experience, applied experience, qualifications, and the presence of a third party on students' expectancies of the lecturer's competency. A cross-sectional between subjects experiment was conducted with 234 undergraduate students (Mage: 20.73 years) who watched one of ten video vignettes within which a lecturer's teaching and applied experience, qualifications, and the presence of a third party were manipulated. Students rated their expectancies of the lecturer using the Perceived Lecturer Competency Scale and Perceived Influence Scale. ANOVAs revealed that an experienced lecturer with higher qualifications was perceived to be significantly more competent in subject knowledge compared with an inexperienced, less qualified lecturer. Applied experience was more influential on students' expectancies of the lecturer's competency compared with qualification and teaching experience. There was no significant difference in students' expectancies of a lecturer when they introduced themselves compared to them being introduced by a third party when using the same dynamic cues. These findings suggest that lecturers can harness the information cues that they display to students during initial interactions, which is likely to promote the formation of positive expectancies and optimise student-lecturer relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: First impressions matter: the effects of third-party reports, experience, and qualifications on students' expectancies of a lecturer's competency.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Studies+in+Higher+Education%22">Studies in Higher Education</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 51 Issue 6, p1221-1239. 19p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+experience%22">Teaching experience</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Job+qualifications%22">Job qualifications</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Experiential+learning%22">Experiential learning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Higher+education%22">Higher education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+effectiveness%22">Teacher effectiveness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher-student+relationships%22">Teacher-student relationships</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+of+students%22">Psychology of students</searchLink>
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  Data: Expectancy formation is an inevitable consequence of lecturer-student interactions and these expectancies may influence student-lecturer relationships. Despite this, little is known about the formation of expectancies within HE. This study aimed to address this gap and investigate the effects of a lecturer's teaching experience, applied experience, qualifications, and the presence of a third party on students' expectancies of the lecturer's competency. A cross-sectional between subjects experiment was conducted with 234 undergraduate students (Mage: 20.73 years) who watched one of ten video vignettes within which a lecturer's teaching and applied experience, qualifications, and the presence of a third party were manipulated. Students rated their expectancies of the lecturer using the Perceived Lecturer Competency Scale and Perceived Influence Scale. ANOVAs revealed that an experienced lecturer with higher qualifications was perceived to be significantly more competent in subject knowledge compared with an inexperienced, less qualified lecturer. Applied experience was more influential on students' expectancies of the lecturer's competency compared with qualification and teaching experience. There was no significant difference in students' expectancies of a lecturer when they introduced themselves compared to them being introduced by a third party when using the same dynamic cues. These findings suggest that lecturers can harness the information cues that they display to students during initial interactions, which is likely to promote the formation of positive expectancies and optimise student-lecturer relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/03075079.2025.2500695
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Experiential learning
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      – SubjectFull: Teacher effectiveness
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              Text: Jun2026
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              Y: 2026
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