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We examined college instructors' perceptions of the behaviors and contextual factors that allow them to initiate and maintain rapport with their students. Phenomenological interviews with 21 college instructors indicated that instructors rely on different strategies and contextual factors to initiate and to maintain rapport with students across the semester. At the beginning of the semester, these instructors rely on a variety of connecting, common grounding, and information sharing behaviors and leverage baked-in rapport to cultivate a sense of rapport from their students. After rapport has been initiated, these instructors place more emphasis on attentive and courteous behaviors, while continuing to engage in connecting behaviors. Furthermore, these instructors identified personalized instruction and tactful responses to delicate situations as essential for maintaining a strong sense of rapport across the semester. Findings from the present study provide college instructors with a framework for initiating and maintaining rapport with students in their classrooms.

We examined college instructors' perceptions of student use of mobile technology for off-task purposes during class. Previous research demonstrated that digital distraction hinders student learning, yet little is known about instructor views and reactions to this behavior. Phenomenological interviews with 11 college instructors revealed that student digital distraction has a profound influence on their pedagogical decision-making, relationships with students, and professional satisfaction. These instructors regularly encounter student digital distraction during class and have well-defined views on the deleterious influence digital distraction has on the integrity of the classroom learning environment. However, instructors were divided in their perceived responsibility to curb this behavior. Most rely on proactive prevention strategies rather than reactive strategies out of concern for negatively impacting student-instructor rapport. Moreover, these instructors experience frustration stemming from student digital distraction. Findings indicate that student digital distraction influences pedagogical decision-making and threatens the quality of student-instructor rapport.