Teacher Leadership and Intellectual Stimulation: Improving Students’ Approaches to Studying through Intrinsic Motivation San Bolkan, Alan K. Goodboy, & Darrin J. Griffin Teachers provide leadership in college classrooms, and the behaviors they exhibit as leaders impact a variety of student outcomes (Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, 2010; Pounder, 2008). Specifically, transformational leadership (Bass, 1985) has been shown to be an important predictor of student learning (Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009). This study examined a specific component of transformational leadership to investigate how communicating intellectual stimulation transforms the nature of the classroom by encouraging student motivation and, subsequently, students’ approaches to their studying. Results suggest that when teachers influence students’ intrinsic motivation through the use of intellectually stimulating behaviors, students approach their learning in deep and strategic ways, and are less likely to adopt a surface-level approach to their studies. Keywords: Intellectual Stimulation; Intrinsic Motivation; Leadership; Studying Teachers provide leadership in college classrooms, and the behaviors they exhibit as leaders impact a variety of student outcomes (e.g., Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, 2010; Pounder, 2003, 2006, 2008; Walumbwa, Wu, & Ojode, 2004). Teacher leadership has garnered support in the literature from a variety of sources, and it has recently San Bolkan (PhD, University of Texas–Austin, 2007) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communi- cation Studies at California State University–Long Beach. Alan K. Goodboy (PhD, West Virginia University, 2007) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Bloomsburg University. Darrin J. Griffin (MA, University of Texas–Austin, 2007) is a graduate student in the Department of Communication at the State University of New York, Buffalo. Correspondence: San Bolkan, Department of Communication Studies, California State University-Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., MS2009 AS-350, Long Beach, CA 90840-2009; E-mail: sbolkan@csulb.edu Communication Research Reports Vol. 28, No. 4, October–December 2011, pp. 337–346 ISSN 0882-4096 (print)/ISSN 1746-4099 (online) # 2011 Eastern Communication Association DOI: 10.1080/08824096.2011.615958