Institutional Communication Dynamics in Instructional Effectiveness: Development of a Student Self-Report Measure of FVP, LMX, and TMX in a Pedagogical Context.

Fractal vertical polarization (FVP) has joined leader-member exchange (LMX) and team member exchange (TMX) as one of the available models of communication dynamics based on complexity theory, which now all benefit from valid scales for use in organizational settings. The purpose of these models is to assess the quality of interpersonal information flow, which affects such outcomes as motivation and trust. High levels of FVP, or contrarily low levels of LMX or TMX, may obstruct communication flow and consequently interfere with people’s ability to function at the peak of their capacities. This paper begins the process of developing self-report measures of these constructs in generalized form for student use in the context of instructional evaluation. The premise is that obstructions in communication flow at the institutional level in education may hamper student learning in the same way that these conditions obstruct motivation in productive enterprises. The result of the factor analysis presented herein is a usable set of scales, construable as student-perceived FVP, student-perceived generalized LMX, and student-perceived generalized TMX. The paper presents correlations with selected variables of interest, and concludes with recommendations for future research in this area. Aaron D. Lucas, Roger Alan Voss, & Dennis W. Krumwiede Institutional Communication Dynamics in Instructional Effectiveness 92 Journal of Learning in Higher Education 93 Spring 2015 (Volume 11 Issue 1) alized LMX, and generalized TMX, respectively. FVP refers to dysfunctions or obstructions in communication flow patterns generally along the vertical axis in organizations (Voss & Krumwiede, 2012). LMX similarly attends to the vertical axis, but the model instead looks for high quality (i.e., open, vibrant, and meaning interaction between leaders and subordinates) in this information flow (Graen & Cashman, 1975). Lastly, TMX looks at horizontal flows, again seeking high quality in their enactment (Seers, 1989). Of these constructs, LMX and TMX have an established history in organizational research, while FVP is a newer adjunct to the available theories based in complexity theory. Historically, LMX and TMX have limited their scope to the immediate unit of analysis. Hence, the standard LMX questionnaire asks respondents to reveal information about communication flow patterns with their immediate supervisors. Similarly, the standard TMX questionnaire asks respondents to reveal information about their coworkers in a team context. FVP, by comparison, is a generalized construct, because its application seeks to enable respondents to reveal insights about the organizational communication flow in general, throughout the organization, rather than limiting that view to the immediate unit of analysis. Given the purpose of this study, to develop a self-report instrument that enables students to reveal insights about their institution as a whole, this study presents generalized construals of LMX and TMX as well, based on the recent work of Voss, Krumwiede, Lucas, and Fedorovich (2014).