Intimidators
I have had intimidators in my courses, especially in intro to psych courses. They may have had prior experience with the psych environment. It is important to validate these learners and getting into a competition leads to a lack of respect for the instructor - generally, other students just think the intimidator is a horses ass. So it is with professionalism and knowledge that an instructor can win over an intimidator - but also acknowledging that they DO know course content and it is up to us, the trained professional, to push them further into critical thought and analysis (Bloom's).
My experience with intimidators are usually when they appear early in the the class module. These students will only be intergrated into the class discussions when their questions can be answered in a manner that they can agree with or understand why.
I agree. It's important to validate these students... Even in the face-to-face environment. They may turn out to be a very valuable asset once you recognize them.
David,
I liked your comment. It is the same in the classroom. If you do not respect your students and understand they may have knowledge in the topic they feel they are being spoken down to and that never goes well. It would seem some intimidators are establishing they have a background in the information but are just bad at expressing it.
Paul
David,
Great post! As an instructor, I have spent time with intimidation techniques from students and when they attempt to know all of the course material, I politely correct them when they are incorrect. This is usually humbling for them.
