12 Dealing With Student Problems & Problem Students

Dealing with Student Problems & Problem Students

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The Romans taught their children nothing that was to be learned sitting

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Crisis Clinic

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It’s a typical day in your class, as you lecture …. – – – – –

A student enters 10 min late Several are discussing between themselves One has head back, eyes closed & mouth open A cell phone rings / someone is using a phone A student is Writing / Reading something

What might you do about all this? 4

One in Every Crowd ■

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One of the students in your class goes out of her way to be obnoxious: she acts bored, sleep in class, and makes constant semi audible wise cracks that set everyone around her to snickering. She also loves to ask you questions you can’t answer and to point out flaws in everything you do and say in lectures 5

Why me, Lord? ■

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An agitated student comes into your office, begins to discuss the quiz he just did so poorly on, and then in a broken voice tells you that he had a B average coming into this semester and he’s now failing all his courses and doesn’t know what he’s going to do. He makes an effort to pull himself together, apologizes for taking up your time, and gets up to leave. What might you do? 6

The old switcheroo ■

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The tests have been handed in, graded, and returned. A student comes in, shows you a page without a red mark on it that contains a perfect solution to Problem 3, and complains that the grader must have overlooked that page because points were taken off for Problem 3. What might you do? 7

Cheating* ■

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Question: Is there likely to be cheating on exams in the course I’m about to teach? Answer: Yes Question: How will they do it?

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Answer: 1. The Sneak Preview. (They get advance copies.) 2. The Eyes Have It. (They scan their neighbor’s paper.) 3. I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends. (They text-message on their cell phone or instant-message on their laptop to a classmate or a person outside of the class.) 4. The Note of Precaution. (They bring crib sheets or store information on their personal data assistant/cell phone/calculator/laptop) 5. The Call of (a Warped) Nature. (They leave the test room and get help.) ■

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6. Quick Change Artistry. (They pick up your workedout solution at the front of the room and correct the paper before handing it in.) 7. Now You See It, Now You Don’t. (They don’t hand in the test and later claim you lost it.) 8. Three-Page Monte. (They substitute correct solutions for incorrect ones after the graded tests are handed back.) 9. Hire a Substitute. 10. History Repeating Itself. (They memorize solutions to the same questions on past tests.) This one is not cheating—it’s your fault for repeating questions. 10

Question: How can I minimize cheating? Answer: 1. Don’t leave copies of the test lying around, including in computer files. 2. Know how many copies were run off. Count them before the test is given. 3. Announce that cell phones, PDA’s, etc., will be confiscated if they are used during the test. 4. Make sure the exam is carefully proctored. 5. Don’t hand out worked-out solutions until you are sure all the papers have been collected. ■

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Question: How can I minimize cheating? 6. Log in the papers as soon as you collect them. 7. Use exam booklets if possible. 8. Make photocopies of some or all graded solution papers, particularly those of anyone you have suspicions about, before handing them back. 9. Require complete solutions. Don’t give credit for the right answer magically appearing. 10. Give open-book tests as much as possible. 11. Give tests that are easy to read and possible to solve. Students are much more likely to cheat on tests they regard as unfair. 12. Don’t repeat exams! 12

Non – disruptive & Disruptive ■

Non – disruptive – Ignore if not repetitive / deliberate – Deal outside the class if repeated

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Disruptive – Aggressive – short term & long term effects – Passive (Indirect) – cannot do it – Assertive – asking what he/she want & deal outside the class if repeated 13

Thank You

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