Dealing with difficult students

Sense of failure, rejection,
threat
 To avoid these feelings
◦ Clarify types of behaviour
◦ Understand some causes
◦ Generate solutions
◦ Separate behaviour from person
◦ Take ourselves out

Certain behaviours are
expected
 Punctuality
 Regular attendance
 Performance of required tasks
 Paying attention
 Coming prepared
 Dressing appropriately
 Being polite
 Being respectful

If students break these rules .
..
 Poses a problem to instructor trying to
manage a group so that it is functional
 First thing to do—rank those
behaviours in order of importance.

 Now categorize each type of
behaviour by what
◦ Makes you angry
◦ Seems senseless
◦ Embarrasses you
◦ Amuses you
◦ Can you deal with easily
◦ Can you understand

 Now select the types of behaviour that
make you angry and think about the
last time you had to deal with it

 Analyze what happened
◦ What led up to it?
◦ How did other students react?
◦ How did you intervene?
◦ What were the activities in the
classroom at the time?
◦ What was the outcome?

What are the factors that make
learning successful?

 Having fun
 Being involved
 Discovering
 Achieving goals
 Understanding the purpose of tasks

What interferes with learning?
 Fear of failure
 Boredom
 Unrealistic goals
 Not understanding the purpose of
tasks
 Feeling tired

Prevention is better than
Prescription……………….

 Impossible to avoid all
difficulties
 Clear outline of expectations
and evaluative criteria are
critical.
 Leave you less vulnerable.

PREVENTION!
 Clearly state expectations concerning
class attendance, participation, and
the timely completion of assignments
UP FRONT.
 Hand out a document that outlines
these criteria.

Tell them Where You are Coming
From
 Communicate your biases so they
know what type of work you
expect.

 Explain
your own critical
methodology and interests to give
them an idea as to what
approaches you prefer.

 Be an ally, not an adversary.

 Be accessible.

 Be warm and supportive in
encouraging your students'
participation in class.

 Be careful when correcting students in
class—don’t embarrass them or put them
on the defensive.

 Point out mistakes in a positive and
constructive manner that is not
discouraging.

 Help students recognize for themselves
flaws in their argument or response.

 Befair and ethical.
Students talk to each other
and compare notes.

 Interveneearly when a
problem arises,
documenting and saving
copies of all your efforts to
reach out to a given student.

Make sure that your
attitude in class
serves as a model

of how you expect your
students to behave and
participate in your class.

Grading
 Making your grading
policies and expectations as
transparent as possible.

 This will help but will not
totally preclude difficulties.

Assignments are late or not
turned in
 Unambiguously state your
policy on how late or
missing assignments will be
handled in the syllabus that
you distribute on the first
day of class.

 Speak to student in private to
determine the cause of their failure
to complete the assignments in an
appropriate manner.

 Make the student aware of negative
impact on grade. Remind the
student that ultimately they are in
control of their coursework.

Document the
interaction that you
have with your student
concerning the missed
assignment(s).

 Communicate by email or
follow up an in-person
discussion with an email
reiterating the pertinent
aspects of the
conversation.

Missed Exam
 Discuss how you'll handle missed
exams and quizzes at the beginning of
the semester.

 What will be your policy on making up
missed exams?

 Stick to your policy so as to maintain
total fairness with all students.

Student Argues Grade
 Make grading criteria clear
from the outset of the course.
 Use a grading/point system
that is clear and
straightforward so that it is
easily defendable and easy for
your students to understand.

 Furnish students with the criteria
necessary for success so that they know
how to meet your expectations.
 If possible, hand out guidelines for a good
essay or examples of a superior exam
answer.

 When you grade, give
detailed explanations of why
you found a given point
weak or strong and offer
suggestions as to how the
work might be improved.
 Give the students ideas
about how to study or
organize their ideas more
effectively.

 Offer the option of handing in an
initial draft of their work that you
will comment on but not grade.
 Ask the student to explain to you in
specific terms why his or her work
deserved a better grade.

 Consider a re-grade policy
whose details you spell out
in your syllabus. Or
formulate a policy for
yourself in advance of
having to implement it.

 If you agree to re-evaluate student work,
make it clear that you retain the right to
adjust the grade either up or down.

 Warn the student that you may find
mistakes or problems that you hadn't
noticed the first time around, which
could adversely affect their grade.

 Always keep an open
mind to the possibility
that you may have made
a mistake in evaluating
student work and that re-
evaluation might indeed
be in order.

Student offers to do extra credit
to compensate

 List all of the assignments that will
accrue towards the final grade on your
first-day syllabus, making it clear that
supplemental work will not be factored
into the grade.

 Remind the student that the concept
of "extra credit" has currency in the
arena of secondary education but is
no longer operative at the university
level.

Classroom Behaviours
 The late student
◦ Speak to the student in private
◦ Ask that they enter unobtrusively if
necessary
◦ Always start class on time.

◦ Give quizzes at beginning of class

◦ Address the class as a whole, insist on
the importance of punctuality as a mark of
respect not only towards the instructor
and course material but also towards the
other students in the class.

◦ Emphasize that you respect your students
and that such respect should be
reciprocal.

 Excessive absence

◦ Make sure that you state your
policy on attendance in your
syllabus, indicating whether a
certain number of absences will
result in the lowering of a grade.

◦ Contact the student individually to
find out what the circumstances
of their absence are.

◦ Warn the student that their grade
will probably suffer as a result of
their chronic absences.

◦ If attendance is not required and
the student is doing well, you may
be better off not addressing the
issue with that student.

 Chronically hostile or disruptive

◦ Contact the student. Document
and keep records.
◦ Ask for, listen to, and try to
understand the student's
perspective.

◦ Sometimes disruptive behavior
reflects a desperate need for
attention. Listening may help.

◦You may often discover
that the attitude has
nothing to do with you
◦ or your class and that
the student is not even
aware that they seem
hostile

◦If the student has a
specific problem, ask
them to suggest
possible solutions.

◦ Try to think of ways that
you could help, within
the limits of your role as
an instructor.

◦ Frame your comments on the
student's behavior in terms of
"stress" so as to keep them
from feeling judged or
attacked.

◦ Stress provides a neutral and
safe context within which to
discuss disruptive behavior
and attitudes.

 If
the problem persists, talk
to other faculty members
who have had the student in
their classes.

◦ Talk to a dean or to
someone at Student
Services to get further
input and support.

Chronically argumentative
student
 Support your position by relying on the
course materials, to which you both have
access.

 Suggest that he/she continue the discussion
during your office hours.

 Remain calm and nonjudgmental. Do not take
it personally.
 .

 Listen to and try to understand the
student's perspective.

 Don't assert your authority as the
professor. Avoid introducing your
statements with "I."

 If a student is stubborn and refuses to
postpone a disagreement until after
class or office hours and completely
disrupts a class, remain calm

◦If the student is agitated to
the point of being
unreasonable,
◦ ask them to carry the
grievance to a higher
authority (e.g., the
department head or dean).

◦ Make apparent your willingness to
discuss the issue calmly,

◦ but do not continue trying to reason
with a student who is highly
agitated.

◦ If you remain calm in the presence
of the group, the student may soon
become cooperative again.

 In an extreme case, you may have to
ask the student to leave the
classroom, or even dismiss the class.

 Try to respond as calmly as possible.
Avoid making an issue out of a small
incident.
 The hardest part of such a situation is
to maintain your professionalism, and
not to respond as if you feel
personally attacked.

Dealing with difficult students

Dealing with difficult students

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