Somewhat disruptive students
I have noticed many of the disruptive students are disruptive not because they are trying to be but because they have already recieved this information and are somewhat bored. What I try to do is include their knowledge and understaing of the subject matter into the class discussion and usually their attitude becomes much better. What other methods are being used for this situation?
Lori,
Yes, as Barny would say, "Nip it in the bud!" The manner must be respectful and exemplify the deamenor expected of the student.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Disruptive students should be addressed at the beginging of the course and not allow attitude to run the course
Another way to manage issues is to e-mail the student to find out what problems exist or to have the students visit during office hours that are set up in advance.
Hi Karen, yes, I agree with you. It's really important to let the learner speak and be heard and resolve the situation quickly while at the same time making it clear that you have specific expectations for all learners! Tina
Hi Carla, that is always a problem. What we do with team assignments is create individual deliverables for team assignments, so learners are grading on their individual deliverables. For the team aspects, we look at how they work together as a team and assign a grade on:
Team environment. Contributes to building a constructive team environment by participating in the team activities on a regular basis and contributing to team meetings.
Integrity. Builds trust with team members by acting ethically and putting the team above his or her own individual contributions.
Accountability. Follows through on agreed upon tasks and responsibilities as
required by the project. accountability, trust, and
Our teams turn in a final project with all of the components integrated, but this portion of the grade based on the team criteria along with the overall report, so loafers generally receive a good score on the final report if they didn't participate equally. Tina
Tina--along the lines of disruptive students, what can one do to discourage social loafing in the group/team assignments? It never fails, there is always one or two students who do not share the workload and then one or two students left to pick up the pieces. I have tried everything: peer reviews, self-assessments, points deducted, etc...Can you please provide some insight into what I can do differently?
I think this most likely describes the "noisy" student. This is something that needs to be "nipped in the bud" because if allowed to continue it sometimes appears as though this student is manipulative and is given special attention. I think the best way to deal with this type of student is to recognize it as soon as possible and remind that everyone is treated equally and without partiality in your class.
Hi Matthew, I have found that setting up a time to talk with the learner via telephone can help you understand more clearly the issues the learner is having. Many times they have had bad experiences and they bring their past experience to your course, so having that personal contact via telephone and letting them know they have been heard can help alleviate the problem. Tina
