Testing the Applicability of the Instructional Beliefs Model across Three Countries: The Role of Culture as a Theoretical Parameter

ABSTRACT Instructional communication research is critiqued for lacking theoretical development and limited cultural understanding. This study tested the instructional beliefs model (IBM) in three countries: US, Turkey, and Finland. Participants (N = 376) reported perceptions of teacher relevance, state motivation, procedural justice, learner empowerment, and revised learning indicators. Results revealed that the IBM provided a good fit to the data in Turkey and Finland but not in the US. In all models, procedural justice and state motivation were significant predictors of learner empowerment, and learner empowerment strongly predicted revised learning indicators. However, teacher relevance only predicted learner empowerment in non-US classrooms. These results have practical implications for teaching in increasingly diverse classrooms and understanding higher education abroad. This study supports and extends IBM.