By: Victoria Smith, PhD in Online Education

Whether one teaches at the university, secondary, or elementary levels, all teachers encounter combative students. Mary Bart (2012) writes, “Even if you do everything right, there will be students who push your buttons.” However, many teachers struggle with how to handle disciplinary problems with these students. The following are methods that I find effective when dealing with a challenging student either in my online university classrooms or in email interactions with traditional, ground students:

“Never let them see you sweat” and “kill them with kindness.” Though clich?d, these words apply to handling combative students. When a student sends a rude message, never respond in kind, even though it may be tempting to do so. Take a breath, and then compose a professional response. (Note: If a student is combative to the point of threatening the instructor or others with physical harm or verbal abuse, be sure to report the student to the appropriate school authorities. Safety is of the utmost importance!) “It’s not all about you.” Usually, students who respond to us negatively have underlying issues, and we are merely the unfortunate targets at that moment. In fact, Dobmeier and Moran (2008) assert that all people tend to “act-out negative emotions when they are experiencing stress and learners may act-out in learning activities because they are among the few places where they can act out without severe consequences” (p. 32). As humans, our initial reaction to criticism is to take it personally. However, if we allow ourselves to take a step back and view the situation from a broader perspective, we often can see students projecting their own issues onto us because we are an easier target than the real root of the problem.Stick to school and instructor policies. For example, if the school has a late policy and a student wishes to challenge her grade based on it, one might respond in part with, “Unfortunately, university policy does not permit instructors to accept assignments more than 10 days late.” That takes the focus away from the instructor and makes the instructor seem less culpable. For instructor policies, refer the student to the syllabus. If the instructor requires students to sign a statement that they have read and understood the policies outlined in the syllabus, be sure to remind them of that fact when they are pleading for an extension. If a student complains about the assignment within the actual assignment, address it, but do not stoop to the student’s level. For example, one of my students could not meet the word count requirement of the assignment and decided to rant about it in the paper. The following was my response:
This will not count toward your word count to fulfill the grade completion requirements. If an essay’s points are fully developed and include all elements (in-text citations and reference page, for example, which your essay lacks) and the essay happens to do so in under 750 words, most instructors will not be strict about the word count/will not deduct points. Your first draft should only contain content pertaining to your essay topic.
The above comment addresses the student’s concern while implicitly letting them know their comments were not appropriate.Be kind, but firm. Whether one teaches online, face to face, or in a hybrid modality, it is important to convey a tone of kindness and firmness. We are there to teach students; that means we are not their friends, colleagues, or doormats, and we deserve to be treated with respect just as much as students do. Students tend to respect instructors who have clear expectations and are consistent in the enforcement of their policies.

The above tips are just that, tips. It is impossible to predict all possible scenarios an instructor might encounter in the classroom, which is both one of the positive aspects and challenges of teaching. It is my hope that these tips will help instructors, especially those who teach online, deal with disruptive students effectively.

References
Bart, M. (2012). Dealing with difficult students and other classroom disruptions. Faculty Focus. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-classroom-management/dealing-with-difficult-students-and-other-classroom-disruptions/

Dobmeier, R., & Moran, J. (2008) Dealing with disruptive behavior of adult learners. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 22 (2), 29-54.

Dr. Victoria Smith is an online instructor of English at Grand Canyon University.

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By: Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti in Online Education

There are many studies that look at how online students differ from those in face-to-face classes in terms of performance, satisfaction, engagement, and other factors. It is well-known that online course completion rates tend to be lower than those for traditional classes. But relatively little is known about what the unsuccessful online student has to say about his or her own experience and how they would improve online learning. Yet these insights can be vital for distance educators.

Christy Hawkins is director of continuing and professional education at Thomas Nelson Community College. As part of her dissertation research, she conducted a pilot study of students ranging in age from 20-49 who had withdrawn from an online course. Most of these students had previously attempted multiple online courses, and about half were unsuccessful in all of their previous online attempts. This qualitative study sought student perspectives about their online courses, with results that fell into three main areas: course issues, student issues, and suggested improvements.

Course issues ran the gamut from issues that could appear in any course delivery modality to ones that were unique to the online format. For example, some students mentioned that the course was not engaging, admitting that they took the course to satisfy a requirement but felt the content was boring. Clearly, this type of mismatch of content with interest level could occur with a traditional course as well. Additionally, some students expressed a desire for faculty members with more expertise in the subject area to assist when the students were uncertain of the material.

However, most of the responses surrounded aspects of the online delivery format.

One student knew that she was an auditory learner and was distressed to discover that the course had no auditory components. Some students disliked the discussion format, reflecting on the poor quality of responses from other students or feeling that too many responses were required each week. At least one respondent was unhappy with the amount of sharing of personal information required in the online format, which this person would not voluntarily have done in a classroom setting.

Still other issues were specific to the online format and may point out some of the limitations of the way the course is delivered. Hawkins found “some desire for a self-paced course,” and she also found a number of technical issues, like lost assignments or difficulty of downloading required software.

Student issues divided down into time management concerns and lack of skills required to succeed online. Regarding time management, some students reported a “failure to log on and do the work,” Hawkins says. This was sometimes due to work and family constraints, and sometimes due to a priority placed on face-to-face courses.

The work and family issue is interesting because sometimes students will opt for an online class because they know they do not have time to commit to face-to-face meeting each week. However, the same issues that make traveling to class inconvenient will certainly make it difficult to give online study the necessary focus.

Interestingly, students also admitted to prioritizing face-to-face classes for a number of reasons. One student said, “I prioritize my brick-and-mortar classes over the online class…because I have to see the teacher’s face.” At least one student reported prioritizing face-to-face classes in a way that was strategic and which might arguably have been a good decision for that person. That student reported, “I made a choice to keep my other classes that required less reading and withdrew from the online course so I could take it when I could be successful.”

Additionally, some students simply did not have the skills needed to learn in an online setting. Most online classes require a great deal of reading comprehension ability, and some students need more instructor assistance to help them solve problems or to explain the material in a different way than the reading does.

In the course of her research, Hawkins also uncovered several ideas for how faculty and administrators can help students be more successful in online classes. These ideas include:

“Faculty need to go above and beyond to demonstrate their expertise,” Hawkins says. Faculty should use all the tools available to them online to be sure that students are able to be as confident in their instructor online as they would be in the traditional classroom. Avoid making all the assignments reading. An online course that is simply written material placed online can be a boring one, and it can be difficult for students who do not have great reading comprehension skills. Video snippets, chats with the instructor, and other ways to convey information can break up the tedium. “My teacher took the time to record little videos of his lectures, which really helped to engage me,” one student reported.Let students know if supplemental opportunities are available. Some instructors may wish to schedule time for synchronous online chats or face-to-face meetings. Let the students know this at registration time so those who know they need more interaction with the instructor can opt into those sections of the course.“Be understanding when things happen,” says Hawkins. Students will have family and work issues crop up and, within the bounds of institutional and course policy, it helps for an instructor to be understanding of these issues and help students work through them.Provide good academic advising to the students. For example, Hawkins suggests students not take the hardest course in their discipline or program as their first online endeavor, so they are not struggling with learning how to study online while they confront challenging material.Counsel students about technology. Hawkins notes that students studying online really need to have a computer at home or at the office that they can access on a daily basis in order to succeed in an online course. Depending on a library computer or the internet will not be sufficient.Encourage or require students to complete an assessment to see if online learning is right for them before enrolling in an online section of the class.Offer special computer lab hours staffed by online instructors who can help students learn to navigate and use the LMS in their online course.Offer special sections of orientation courses (like University 101) for online students.Reprinted from Distance Education Report, 17.11 (2013): 4,6. ? Magna Publications. All Rights Reserved.

Tags: disengaged students, online course design, online learning trends, online student retention, online student success

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By: Gloria P. Craig, EdD in Online Education

The discussion forum is an essential part of online courses. It’s where students interact, reflect, exchange ideas, and expand their knowledge base. The quality of the discussion forum depends on the ability to develop a sense of community, the clarity of the discussion questions, and the use of a grading rubric that includes standards of performance.

Cobb (2011) found that relationships, comfort, and community are important factors in undergraduate student success. She recommends establishing forums for student introductions, instructor involvement in the forums, and acknowledging students’ points of view.

Mayne and Wu (2011) found that the following strategies increase student satisfaction with an online course and positively influence perceptions regarding social presence and group interaction: personal emails and biographical and personal information from the instructor, an introduction with specific course instructions, an inclusive syllabus with student and instructor expectations clearly outlined, assignment rubrics, links to helpful tutorials or resources, and an informal place for students to chat.

Another way to promote community is to provide a question-and-answer forum. This facilitates student exchange of information that does not require instructor input, enabling students to mentor one another.

Small group sizes (with no more than 10 students per discussion forum group) also can promote social presence and community. According to Schellens and Valcke (2006), small discussion groups have higher levels of knowledge construction than larger groups do. They also found that students want specific discussion forum guidelines and want the forums to be graded to enhance the level of responsibility.

To be meaningful, discussion questions need to be correlated with the course readings and learning outcomes for each module. Students are more likely to understand learning outcomes that are directly connected with an assignment (forum, quiz, or paper).

Most discussion questions focus on the basic levels of thinking of Bloom’s Taxonomy to evaluate students’ understanding of the content in each module and their ability to explain ideas or concepts. Some questions may direct students toward higher levels of thinking, requiring them either to apply the information from the module to a workplace situation or to compare and contrast particular issues (analyzing). To promote higher levels of thinking, ask students to critique one another’s posts (evaluating) and direct them to pose a question related to the topic of discussion (creating) to further stimulate discussion in the forum (Overbaugh and Schultz, n.d.).

In undergraduate courses, have students respond to the initial prompt and include rationale and references. Then have them reply to fellow students with substantial constructive feedback (remembering and understanding). Encourage students to respectfully consider the opinions of others, agree or disagree with those opinions, and provide rationale based on references or workplace experience (applying, analyzing). After all the students have posted and replied, post a closing post for the forum that acknowledges students’ points of view, addresses any areas that need further clarification, and adds new content to augment understanding of the topic of discussion.

Hold graduate students to the same criteria as undergraduate students, but also have them include questions with their posts to further stimulate discussion. This leads to a higher level of thinking. Also consider requiring graduate students to handle their posts that include questions as individual forums. Have them take on the role of instructor, replying to other students and posting summaries for their forums (evaluating). The instructor would then read all the posts, including questions and summaries, and post a closing message as described above for undergraduate students.

Use analytic grading rubrics for online discussions. Analytic grading rubrics have two major components: levels of performance and a set of criteria. Levels of performance can include terms such as exemplary, proficient, basic, or below expectations or can include numbers. Points can be attached to the levels of performance and distributed based on the total number of points allowed for a post in the discussion forum. Criteria depend on the learning outcomes for the course, but may include the following:

Demonstration of an understanding of the topic of discussion through critical thinking, higher-order thinking, and uniqueness of contributionCommunity building through collaboration and connection with other studentsProper netiquette and mechanics of writingTimeliness and participation with posts/replies

See my analytic discussion forum grading rubric for undergraduate students here and my graduate rubrics here.

Hold undergraduate and graduate students to the same standard in regard to netiquette, including language, spelling, and grammar, but modify the type and number of required references to suit the educational level. For example, undergraduate students may be required to include supporting references from their reading assignments, but Truemper (2004) suggested that the expectation for graduate students should be to include references from research journals.

The number of replies may need to be adjusted to suit the size of each discussion group. Typically, eight to 10 in a group is sufficient for a discussion that demonstrates interaction, reflection, exchange of ideas, and expansion of the knowledge base related to the topic of discussion. The number of points assigned to a discussion forum will also depend on the amount of responsibility assumed by the students. If students are required both to include a question to further stimulate discussion and to facilitate their forums by providing a summary, then additional points may be assigned to the discussion forum grading rubric. Last, the timeliness of the posts and replies can be negotiated with students, as many adult learners have busy schedules.

References
Cobb, S. (2011). “Social presence, satisfaction, and perceived learning of RN-BSN students in Web-based nursing courses.” Nursing Education Perspectives, 32(2), 115-119.

Mayne, L., and Wu, Q. (2011). “Creating and measuring social presence in online graduate nursing courses.” Nursing Education Perspectives, 32(2), 110-114.

Overbaugh, R., and Schultz, L. (n.d.). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Retrieved from http://ww2.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm.

Schellens, T., and Valcke, M. (2006). “Fostering knowledge construction in university students through asynchronous discussion groups.” Computers & Education, 46(4), 349-370.

Truemper, C. (2004). “Using scoring rubrics to facilitate assessment and evaluation of graduate-level nursing students.” Journal of Nursing Education, 43(12), 562-564.

Gloria P. Craig is a professor in the College of Nursing at South Dakota State University.

Reprinted from Online Classroom, 13.12 (2013): 5,8. ? Magna Publications. All rights reserved.

Tags: asynchronous discussions, discussion board assignments, discussion board rubrics, online discussions

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