Students who criticize others
There have been times when a student will make sure they find fault with another's posts and they have to make sure they bring it to their attention in the discussion forums. In addition, they also need to post i.e. "did you mean ______" and it was a word that was misspelled by me, the instructor. In attempting to ask for courtesy and respect to all and not be negative the student became even more confrontagious and claimed my tone was inappropriate. As an instructor I could not wait for this class to be over and for the student to move on. What I do not understand is how these students progress in any program and are not counseled by advisors to stop this type of negative interaction and help them understand how this is going to affect their place in any work environment.
are you contacting the offender and the offended, or just one?
I have had students do this and not only post demeaning remarks in the discussion posts, but also email me independently requesting that I deal with a student because their typing bothered them. It is not unusual for people (and students) to make assumptions that something is not being addressed when they are not carbon copied or drawn into the discipline. This happens in the work environment and teaching environment more often than some realized.
Regardless, I prefer to address students privately when possible to identify their problem and make recommendations for corrective action. This develops trust and helps to engage the student without alienating them. When I need, I will post my thought and recommendations if a discussion situation requires a public post to get everyone back on track.
There are many challenges with on-line teaching.
Herbert
I really like your approach of addressing the issue of professionalism. Everyone wants to be perceived as a professional and this is a great way to appeal to a student that their criticism of others is considered unprofessional behavior. Thank you for the great idea!
There will always be a challenging student or co-worker that we must deal with. I find that thanking the student or co-worker for constructive corrections work well if phrased correctly. Thank the person for identifying the error and ask them if this is the type of format that they would like to receive comments from you; or more privately (such as a private email.) Let the person know that we all make mistakes and that we can learn from each others mistakes.
Patricia,
I agree that differing opinions are important. In fact differences are what drive most of the discussions we have and problems we solve as human beings. However, criticism has to be done carefully and in a positive and constructive way. Not in such a way as to tear someone down or attack their self-esteem. Provide some feedback about what they did right, then some areas they could improve, and then some encouraging words to motivate them to do better.
Herbert Brown III
I believe that there is always a place for constructive criticism, if done in the appropriate way. But, this type of criticism has to get addressed right away in order to maintain professionalism and respect for all students. I would attempt a face to face with this student (maybe via Skype).
Course participation is most important. The behavior needs to be stopped immediately so others can learn. Same as in traditional classroom.
That sounds like a disruptive/ intimidator online learner to me. Which is the worst combo! I would do the opposite and say “thank you for the correction, yes I meant to say….†And then make sure I triple read what I write. Or... is ignoring that behavior so bad?? They want you to feed into their response, so don’t!
This is what I do here as well. I use the expectations to drive them from doing this and stop it when I see this occur. They key here is to ensure that we have stepped in to stop it if it does occur. Otherwise you risk damage to the course participation overall.
Renee,
I might be in a different environment, but I confront them based on my course expectations. I have a detailed expectations on my syllabus about appropriate behavior and comments - professionalism. I confront the student head on and explain to them their lack of professionalism and inappropriate actions. I tell them the importance (for their career) to adjust that behavior now and remind them of the class policy and inform them that those actions will not be tolerated. NO ONE in my opinion should be bullied (and that is what it sounds like to me) in an online or traditional classroom. I have seen this in both environments and never tolerate it in either. I would say that I give them the benefit of the doubt and try to discuss it civilly at first, but if that doesn't work it will not continue regardless.
Herbert Brown III
