Dear Fatima,
My students from first year of Medicine are usually quiet and quite interested, because it is the most difficult university course to enter in Portugal, with the highest fees, that their families find difficult to cope with, and they are eager for success.
Nevertheless, sometimes we do get a noisy student in class, which shows some emotional disrupter.
What I do is to invent special tasks for these and keep them busy, letting the others proceed with their intellectual work.
Dear Fatima,
My students from first year of Medicine are usually quiet and quite interested, because it is the most difficult university course to enter in Portugal, with the highest fees, that their families find difficult to cope with, and they are eager for success.
Nevertheless, sometimes we do get a noisy student in class, which shows some emotional disrupter.
What I do is to invent special tasks for these and keep them busy, letting the others proceed with their intellectual work.
You have to ignore them and continue you lessons normally!
Or try to make them understand that if they were in your place they would be disturbed, when they become teachers in the future!
This refers to the attention seeking behaviour in the students, for both positive and negative reasons. General approach is
- Positive reinforcement is Recognition
- Negative reinforcement is from warning to punishment... Mostly counselling is better to be applied sandwitched in between.
- Opportunity is this behaviour can be converted as a leadership attribute of initiation, when properly groomed.
Some students seek attention. Few students are very intelligent . Their expression will be such that they can easily learn . Managing them to learn is art of the teacher.
Dear All,
Many think that university teachers are simple servants of the students – this is a bit similar to the Roman situation when cultivated Greek slaves taught the children of their Roman masters. Others think that teaching is a communal service and nothing more. I, personally, do not think so. Fortunately, students are rarely noisy and they have no opportunity to be aggressive. If somebody disturbs the class, I used to ask him to continue instead of me. If somebody repeatedly bothers and perturbs classes, I politely ask him to leave. A whole class cannot suffer because of the lack of discipline of a single student.
There is also an alternative (if your university permits) to write explicitly acceptable and non acceptable behaviors in the class room, which the professor determines, in the course syllabus and mention that strongly at the beginning of the course. It puts a warning to a would be disruptive student to behave well during class, otherwise pay consequences.
The other thing is to let the class control such bad behaviors by exposing the menacing student to them and let them judge and condemn that behavior in commotion. Or the other possibility is to handle them as if they are singularities of the class, which requires smoothing or mollifying processes ( let them express what they have to say but later say what smooths them in a guiding way) for the semester until the course finishes.
These are some of the reasons that give teaching, the whole mark of nobility.
A teacher should have absolute class control so that whatever is taught in the class should be listened and understood by all students.
Generally, two or three students sit together and start discussing themselves by ignoring the teacher lecture. In such cases, I stop my lecture for a while. Since lecture is stopped and also I am looking at them, they stop discussion. Alternatively, I identify such students, change their sitting places. These methods help me in maintaining the silence in the class room.
Teachers should maintain good eye contact with all students in their class which will be helpful to keep the students calm and attentive in the class to a greater extend.. If a student is still aggressive the lectures for a long time, teacher should call his/her name and ask them to attend the lecture. Psychologically, calling by names in the whole class proved to be a good techniques to keep restless students calm and attentive. Engaging them active in various learning activities will help them to attain the desired outcome of the class. Ask these students to prepare more study materials and to present these materials before the class. They may be given more works to use laboratories and libraries to utilise their extra energy. Giving special assistance to slow learners inside and outside the class room will make them also to maintain interest in the topics.
And the most important thing is to make your class live and interesting. Try to use modern tools and techniques for your teaching and plan your lecture in such a way that it possibly catches the attention of everybody.
Involve them and utilize their energy for constructive participation!
Generally, aggressive and noisy students have a problem from home. The prof can interrupt the class to ask them if they have a particular contribution to make to the subject on hand. If it continues, ask the person by name to submit half a page essay next day explaining why he/she decided to disrupt the class while subject such and such was being explained to class. This essay will then be evaluated together with the grades.
It is unfortunate that a good number of our students do not know the real value of what they learn these days. In many lectures,there are some noisy students who try to change the lecture into chaos & these are divided into 2 types: (i) those who are silly enough to seek & show fun. (ii) those who are sent deliberately to upset the lecturer & to spoil his/her lectures. My advice is to try an easy approach first by trying to engage the trouble makers or to talk to them (but not in front of the class).
If this does not work, then the disruptive students are told to leave if they like & they are reminded that they can be absent from 6 lectures. If noise persists, the lecturer will better send threats or warnings in (British Cool Way) like : See you in the Final Exam & you will regret what you are doing now. This sentence does not have any bad effect on the lecturer legally. In the final exam, there has to be 3 or more forms of the test plus strict vigilance. Of course, the students will face moderately tough exam but the advantage of that is enormous : the good keen students will do well, while the noisy ones will get punished. Another advantage is that these students will tell those who come in next semesters to not upset this lecturer because they will pay heavily. This recipe has been tried on our sons & daughters "the students" & it worked very well.
Fatima Muhammed Hussein,
According to me, first we need to find the cause of students aggression. As per my expertise, it may be due to,
1) their financial problems,
2) their lack of imterest in education,
3)their mental problems,
4) their rivalty with a certain teacher etc etc...
we need to asses individually each student and to solve its problems individually.
As per teacher, i think they should prepare well their lecture, try to involve the students by question answer methodology, be continually speaking and writing in their cllass and never give time to the students to communicate with each other or make a noise.
if a student is problematic, without any deffficiency in the lecture, tha best method is to ask more and more questions from them in the given lecture or previous ones.
good luck
Have a quite silent classeroom is not usually so good. sometimes, professor is asked to disturb his classeroom i order to bring more attention to what he is doing. If classeroom will be not silent it will be problematic and therefore, more attention should be paied to return to "laminar conditions". Usually, the solution to stabilize the classeroom depends on several conditions and we cannot find a magic manner that can work all time. In any case, limiting the source of noisy students is the key factor dor success. There is always a reason for that. Minimizing the time required to know it a demanded.
I know that all of us are facing every year this problem and finally everyone suceed to find the best solution that work in special conditions.
Any way, I hope all the success to our colleagues and I would like to rember them that is our mission to make successful our classerooms and that among noisy students there is often very clever ones who simply need to be discovered. They may need only to pay more attention to them.
Good luck!
It’s important to create strategy to deal with them or make a management plan and successfully managing the rest of your students. Further, the strategy is only effective if the student feels he is missing something, thus the critical importance of creating a learning experience your students like and want to be a part of.
To be clear, this any strategy is meant only for an unusually difficult regular education student in an otherwise well-behaved classroom.
Students need accountability and desperately. And down deep they know it. Their behavior screams out for it, craves it, pleads for it. They’re searching high and low for someone to step forward and say, I care enough about you and your future and for the rest of students in this class to truly hold you accountable and Teach them other ways to interact with people that still offers positive reinforcement for them (reinforced by the argument vs. the social engagement for the sake of spending time with others, their smile, niceties, etc.). You may have to build in external reinforcement for social engagement without arguments/negotiations.
And I think you must ensure that your classroom reflects and reinforces your values – that your students experience a reality behind your messages. To do that, you should model your messages in your interaction with students, develop class “policies” that reflect what you value, establish motivating academic destinations, and implement systems that reward achievement or progress toward your values
My experiences are mostly working with younger students (computer science and mathematics) who still don't have such developed awareness that it is important to listen in classroom as they could learn something new, and often they had no idea of what their intersts are therefore many are not especially motivated, but subjects such as computer science, cause some initial motivation from the start for all students regardless if they hope to be able to play on the computer more, or indeed learn some new skills. On the other hand motivation in math class is mainly emphasized by the awareness that it is a very difficult subject and that they would need in life "so they parents say". in my insperience, in both subjects, it was very successfully to keep good eye communication all the time with students and observe their reactions. Students seldom suddenly become restless,yet it is a developmental process. The teacher who pays attention to the first indications of unrest, may prevent the creation of a situation in which the teaching is almost impossible. Solutions could be found in setting up additional questions, may be just to the students who behave as if they "are not interested or are bored,", talk to them with their first name but in pleasant voice that we do't encourage further nervousness in classes. In some situations, depending on the student, the remark about his restlessness could be made through a humorous anecdote which we all laugh at a little and thus create a little rest from the work fol all students, but also send a messagge for the restless ones.
This humorous anecdote often gave very good results!
The issue of rest is also important. If these simple tricks do not work we could wonder if we made a mistake in the method of work, the amount of content or simply that day the students are not able to do so because, for example, is extremely warm. Other colleagues researches have already cited several examples of which I also support.
The way of work in the classroom also determines the type of classroom discipline. In the form of group and collaborative work, we expect that students talk to each other and even discusse which can further raise the level of noise in the classroom. The teacher has to keep everything under control, but so as not to stifle the quality of work among students.
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
So how should you react with aggressive, noisy and disrespectful students in lectures ?
The most effective way to handle disrespect is to simply and dispassionately follow your classroom management plan and enforce a consequence.
Enforcing your classroom rules—which should include a rule specifically for disrespectful behavior—with an attitude of indifference strengthens your authority and your classroom management effectiveness.
This can be a challenge at times because initially, as a jolt of adrenaline surges through your body, it can make you feel like somehow the student won, that he or she got away without knowing how their disrespect made you feel. But a student only wins when they’re able to get under your skin.
Like the old deodorant commercial says, “Never let them see you sweat.”
Rest assured, you’re not folding or giving in by resisting the urge to react emotionally. Rather, your constraint is a model for your students for how to handle negative situations with poise and without lowering yourself to the same level of disrespect.
Let your classroom management plan do its job. Relying upon yourself and your words, besides being ineffective, is stressful. Send the message that being respectful is not a choice in your classroom and that anyone who engages in disrespectful behavior will be held accountable.
However, if your first consequence upon a student breaking a rule is a warning, then this isn’t a strong enough response to disrespect.
Therefore, as part of your classroom management plan, there must be an allowance made for situations in which stiffer consequences are needed immediately. Disrespectful behavior, emotional outbursts, and bullying other students are examples of behavior that would warrant an immediate time-out separation from the rest of the class and, more than likely, a letter home to parents.
Your students must be made aware that there are circumstances that are up to the discretion of the teacher. Therefore, this exception must be part of your classroom management plan and posted on your classroom wall.
Handling disrespectful students with calmness and dispassion will decrease the likelihood of it happening again. But there are other things you to do to create an atmosphere of respect in your classroom. For example:
1. Students will emulate you and the way you treat others, particularly if they admire you. So it’s important to set the tone of respect in your classroom by the way you speak to students.
2. You must be respectful, exceedingly so, in all of your interactions. I know you’ve heard it before, but saying please and thank you works. For your students to get the message, you need to use exaggerated politeness (though never obsequiousness) in front of them.
3. Gain your students respect by doing exactly what you say you will do and having your words congruent with your actions. If you require your students to keep their desks clean and neatly organized, but you don’t keep yours that way, your students will notice. They clue in to little discrepancies like this. They glean more about who you are from what you do than for what you say.
4. Stop telling your students how you expect them to behave and instead show them how. Model what respect looks like (for specifics about effective modeling, check out this previous article) and role-play how to give it. Teach respect like you would any other subject area.
In the good old days (i.e. when I was a student), the lecturer was allowed to be sharp in imposing discipline in the classroom such as ordering the noisy students to leave at once or dismissing the whole class if the noise makers are not identified or by sending the noisy students to a head or dean with the help of security men.
At present, the lecturer who does any of the 3 mentioned measures will be in deep trouble. This has resulted in encouraging the cheeky disrespectful students to harm lectures & as far as "despising" the lecturers. All the educational or psychological advices, presented in reference books or websites, simply DO NOT WORK in some situations.
However, our love for our country & our concern about our national interests oblige us to find a solution out. I recommend the (British cool attitude) which involves "legally" phrased threats that are implemented, later on, targeting the "bad" students in "legal" manner. When the semester is over, such students will learn the best lesson in their lives (planting thorns will produce thorns or cause-effect logic).
Dear Colleagues
Thanks for your advices in this subject I will this topic benefit many teachers
Dear Nizar Matar,
The change of education measures may have the consequences that the main role of higher education became the commercialisation. Your teaching, your lectures are only goods and the teacher is an agent in service who can be changed easily for a cheaper or more humble service man.
Always work and learn is very important to students. Arrangement of the practical exposure. and asking students to work and present about the technology will silence the aggressive students. If they are facilitated to work and learn we can take maximum out put from them in terms of the performance in practical. Industry needs such practicals personnel s to work on the present technology. We have established this curriculum by establishing class rooms on the production floor. Student when asked to talk on the technology and discussed thoroughly with all the students will learn and and they will go into learning mode Please see the concept It is initiated in CTF NMIMS
By engaging all the students in the class using Problem Based Learning (PBL)
Dear András Bozsik,
You are right. The academic institutions have become trade centers in many places. Some trades raise the motto (The customer is always right) in order to attract the people. In such institutions, the customers are the students so the teachers (who serve them)are asked from above to tolerate their impolite behavior. If this policy continues, an institution (that was respected in the past) will turn into a vegetable market or a disco !
Problem based learning is requirements in practicals. Practical problem should be identified by the students itself by giving an opportunity to work under the supervision of the senior Technical personnel in the technology. The problems faced by the senior technical personnel's in the present Technology to achieve target will be known to students by carrying our few studies of Root cause of the problems in Technology Students will come out with new ideas to solve on the production floor. or at least students will plan to eliminate problem by prevention of the faults. Preventive maintenance required to avoid the fault or maintain quality will be learnt by students in the technology. By this we are motivating the students to learn present Technology existing in the Industry. They will understadn present skills set required in the Industry this will help students to learn skills as required in the present Industry.
In addition the Staff and Mentor interaction will become more fruitful because students will take interest in developing their abilities as required in the application of Technology for the productive purposes. Thus PBL based teaching and learning is required to bridge the gap between Industry and education.
Icing on the cake will be R and D if it established as an integral part of the engineering Industry in association with academy and Advanced Rand D & Industry to adopt the Technological developments value of the Technical personnel's will increase. These technical personnel's will develop their ability to work for the development of the organisation. Any Team of the technical personnel's should work for the organisation growth by developing their skills in the present Technology to be adopted.
Ignoring disruptive behavior is not a viable option. If you allow disruptions to proceed, they will become increasingly widespread and frequent until the class is out of control.
There are three categories of responses to objectionable behavior: aggressive, passive (indirect), and assertive.
1. Yelling at students, throwing things at them, and throwing them out of class are aggressive responses.
2. Doing anything non-aggressive other than clearly stating what you want is a passive response.
3. Calmly and clearly stating the problem and asking for what you want is an assertive response.
http://biz.colostate.edu/mti/tips/pages/StrategiesRespondingtoDisruptiveStudents.aspx
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