Disgruntled Adult Learner
I have a question for other Instructors. I have a couple of students that are hard to get along with due to their course lifestyle and working environment, (seasonal construction workers). They tend to rebel against authority figures, and challenge me on material they believe to be right, even when I prove them wrong it's like they don't except the answer. If another student would give them the same answer they would rather believe him/her than any instructor. How do you deal with this type of student?
Kathleen,
Thank you for sharing your experience and strategies with us. This is such an important area for instructors to have control over. By following the steps you outlined they will be able to manage their classes and have teaching success.
Gary
Outlining the issues is a great suggestion! When I've had this problem in the past, I've luckily just had to take the student aside privately after class and discuss any problems.
My student was also an adult learner and their frustration became clear that they did not like an instructor several years younger than they were.
I explained my credentials with the class, and asked if there were any other problems with the course.
Taking the time to quickly confront the issue right away and not backing down from explaining that these outbursts hurt the learning potential for everyone in class that also paid to be there helped the situation.
I also believe when some students rebel, like bullies, they are just testing the boundaries. If you establish them and show that you are not afraid to calmly confront the issue head on (despite age in my case) then the respect earned is usually enough.
This method has worked well for me, too. Some of my students need to be guided a little more gently then others however in the end, they come to see my point and now have the evidents to back it up.
My approach with this type of student would almost always be to "walk" them through the problem by asking them a series of questions - breaking down the problem into bite sized pieces. In this way, it becomes THEIR solution, not yours, and while it might have been your idea, it is no longer so threatening for them.
I too have benefited from the inquiry method. Usually this type of students back down when asked to support their assertions with concrete evidence. I would also like to add that being prepared is also very important. Some times you can anticipate the types of challenges that these students may bring, generally it's in the areas where these students feel they have superior knowledge/experience, so I find it helpful to anticipate their challenges and mentally prepare myself for them through research. I've found it extremely helpful to have resources at your fingertips, like notations in the margins of textbooks and online access etc.
A few of my students have exhibited this behaviour, and reacted well to my interest in their opinion, and to my request for them to show me some information about it. Discussing the information (and the conclusions to be drawn from it) was much more productive than arguing about who is right and who is wrong.
Hi Wes,
This is a good example of using the inquiry method when a students raises a question about content or instructor accuracy. Your method lets them prove their position or find the correct answer. The amusing part is that you knew all along that if they dug deep enough they would find out that they were wrong in their position but through self discovery the point becomes even more clear to them.
Gary
I found out quickly that, when dealing with this type of student, any attempt on my behalf to prove the student's point of view in error it only led to more animosity. Instead I would challenge the student to bring documented examples of his/her opinion, experience, or supporting data. What it created was more coursework for that particular student-so they dove deeper into the course material-and that "ah-ha" moment when the student realized the error. More often than not, these students that battled me early on would turn out to be my best and most reliable pupils.
Hi Bruce,
Thanks for sharing this example of how to handle a class management issue.
Gary
Wow, that's a tough one. I imagine the type of course would make a difference; that is, an "objective" based course like accounting or math might be easier in the long run to handle than would a "subjective" course like management or literature.
I've only encountered this type of class once in my experience -- most college classes have not been problems in terms of discipline. For this one class, I took 10 minutes at the end of a class period to address the class in general that "this isn't high school anymore," making sure to outline the specific problems that were occurring -- and to apologize to those who were not causing problems. "We're here to learn, so discussion is good, but at some point, when discussion turns into disrespect and disruption, then that learning objective is not taking place anymore."
This seemed to do the trick for the most part; I still had one student who continued to act like a junior high student. I took him aside specifically and laid out the consequences of his actions (no longer allowed in class, failing the class, etc.).
So, there's my experience. Hope that helps you out somehow!
Sometimes when asked a question I turn the question back to the class for the answer and help them to get to the answer. Sometime I will try the question into their homework assignment, to find the answer and reference it. Other times I will answer it if it is very detailed or I think not answering it asap will slow the learning progress of the student.
