Learning and Teaching Guides:
Tackling Challenging Student
Behaviours
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NTU Centre for Professional Learning and Development
Learning and Teaching Resources
Tackling Challenging Behaviours when Teaching
This guide is designed to help you address some typical challenging
behaviours we can encounter in our teaching.
10 scenarios you can browse to help you reflect on the potential
causes behind particular behaviours and ideas for addressing them.
How this guide relates to the UKPSF and NTU Professional Standards for
Teaching and Supporting Learning in HE
Areas of Activity
Areas of Core Knowledge (Ks)
Professional Values (Vs)
A2, A4
K2, K3
V1, V2
Scenario 1:
During one of your sessions, you are asked a question to which
you don’t know the answer
Tempting it may be, but avoid bluffing your way through – that risks
embarrassment all round if you’re caught out! Instead be honest – tutors don’t
have to know everything all of the time. Accept that this situation is a useful
opportunity to get them taking more responsibility for their own learning. Ask
them to find out – and help support active and independent learning at
the same time!
Try one of the following responses:
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“That’s an interesting/intriguing/relevant question – why don’t we all find
that out and compare our findings next time?”
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“That’s an interesting………..question – I don’t know the answer. You got
me there. I’ll find out and let you all know” (useful but it doesn’t help
them get more actively involved – better to ask them to find out as well so
you can compare).
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Find out there and then – take a minute to let them search online and see
what they come up with. You’ll get all sorts of other insights into which
search engines they use – and that can be a useful opportunity to helping
them evaluate sources.
Scenario 2:
You have poor attendance at your lectures/seminars (your typical
norm is 20-25%)
What’s the problem:
If you can’t get students to attend you are concerned they will perform poorly in
the end of module assignments.
Need to investigate what’s causing the problem:
– Is it a common problem with this group, or just happening to you?
– Is it a problem they have (lack of interest, can’t get to the session)
– Is it a problem caused by you, and the way you design and deliver the
sessions?
– Do students not understand topic?
– Do students not enjoy topic?
– Can students see no relevance in topic?
How to investigate?
– By asking for feedback (anonymous or otherwise)
– Getting feedback through discussions/questionnaires etc
– Asking colleagues whether they experience similar problems with same
group – checking attendance rates in their other sessions.
– Ask one of your module or programme colleagues to observe your
teaching and session plans with you to get feedback about your practice.
Preventing poor attendance:
– Ensure students have clear understanding of what to expect in module and
what they are expected to do – don’t just give them the information,
discuss it with them and check out their understanding of it
– Ensure they can see how the sessions contribute to the overall module
– Ask that students who have problems with timings of session etc alert you
to any difficulties they are facing. Doesn’t mean you can change time of
session, but important to help students take responsibility for managing
their own learning, and identifying any problems they have. You can then
feedback these back to the programme team to discuss how to deal with
them.
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Scenario 3:
One of your students is persistently late to your session
(eg they have been 10-20 minutes on at least 3 occasions in the
last 4 weeks)
What’s the problem:
– Avoid jumping to conclusions about the reasons behind their lateness
– Try not to assume they are being lazy – they may have a genuine
difficulty in getting to your session on time (childcare/other care/ work
etc)
– Persistent lateness isn’t something to ignore, even though the occasional
lapse is. Persistent latecomers may not be fully participating and so risk
miss important contributions for their assessment and understanding.
Need to investigate what’s causing the problem:
– Are they just not bothered about turning up on time?
– Have they a genuine difficulty in getting to your session on time? And do
they need any tips on how to manage their time or plan to get to places
on time (this doesn’t come naturally to many people but it is something
that can be learned)
– Have they other reasons for wanting to be late to each session?
– Speak to them – find out what’s causing it.
– Useful to state the behaviour and its’ consequences and, and ask for
reasons rather than sound like you’re accusing them of something bad!
Avoid saying ‘you’re always late’ – be specific. So….eg ‘I’ve noticed you’ve
turned up late to the last three sessions. I’m concerned that you are
missing important parts of the session. Is something preventing you from
getting here on time?’
Then:
– Agree action they will take (there may be an unavoidable problem due to
bus timetables or not having enough time to get from a previous class; if
so you can agree that as long as they slip in quietly to the class, they can
continue to turn up late. I would ensure the other students know why you
are letting this happen – so that they don’t think it’s generally OK to turn
up late for everything!)
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Scenario 4:
One person in your seminar group is always the first to answer a
question, and tends to dominate any conversation
You will often find these differences in any group of people not just in a group of
students – some people like to talk more than others! By letting one or two
people continue to dominate any discussion, you prevent others from getting the
opportunity to contribute, or the practice to contribute to a discussion. This will
end up frustrating other students who need to think through their answers first
before contributing. You also risk losing different perspectives from other
students. Do you know how the less vocal students are progressing?
Effective session management involves supporting everyone’s learning equally.
This includes managing discussions to ensure that everyone can have a means of
contributing.
In large groups this might mean avoiding general discussions and instead letting
students discuss with each other in small groups. You can then ask for one or
two points from each group, or particular groups (make sure you vary the groups
you ask each time). Particularly good for building confidence of quieter students.
Manage interactions by:
– Thank them for their points, then say something like ‘How about those of
you who have not had the opportunity to speak yet…what do you think?’
‘Or something like ‘I’m also keen to hear the views of those who haven’t
spoken yet…’and ask for contribution from them.
– Set the expectations or ground-rules right from the start - explain that
you would like to ensure that everyone has opportunity to speak, and why
you want to do this, and that means you will organise discussions to
enable that to happen.
– Get them to take it in turn to respond or present (you could assign colours
or numbers and then pick one after the exercise to feedback so they don’t
know who will be asked, and can’t opt out).
– Assign people numbers and then assign a different number as the
respondent for each exercise (all 1s for first exercise, or all 2s for the
second question etc).
– Consider using alternative methods of enabling students to respond. Not
everyone feels comfortable or confident at first about speaking in front of
others, so build their confidence by letting them contribute ideas on post-it
notes or through interactive on-line means. You can read out the points
and keep them anonymous. Provide constructive feedback about the ideas
offered – as students learn that they will not be ridiculed, then they are
more likely to build up confidence to participate in more open discussions.
– If other students mock another student’s response – it’s important to deal
with this. A non-confrontational and gentle prompt is often best rather
than a lecture on ethics! For example. ‘Ok, steady on, let’s come back to
the key point’ is often enough to help nip something in the bud. More
persistent behaviour – address this directly with those involved after the
session.
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Scenario 5:
There is someone in your session group who is reluctant to speak
and contribute to discussions
It’s important to consider the reasons for non-participation. Someone may be
reluctant to speak not because they are lazy, indifferent and/or bored, but
because they are shy, uncertain and lack confidence about their knowledge and
contributions. They may be unsure about what’s expected of them. We do want
our students to learn to become more confident at speaking publicly, putting
across coherent arguments in a confidently assertive (not arrogant) manner. So
it’s important that we don’t enable students to avoid these activities completely,
but we may have to consider how we enable them to build their contribution up
from a lower starting-point.
Things to try:
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Don’t just put presentations or discussions into your sessions or
assessment for the sake of it – have a clear and appropriate rationale of
what they contribute to the learning outcomes of the session and/or
module and remind students of this.
Vary your activities so that everyone more likely to get a mix of activities
they prefer/don’t prefer rather than same students’ preferences being met
all the time at expense of others. For example, use personal reflection,
joint presentations, discussion in pairs or small groups, writing their points
on notes or on-line discussions/debates.
It could be less daunting to get your students to work in pairs – less
daunting that talking in front of everyone. Ask for contributions from each
pair and ask that both people say 1 min each – structure it so they get
used to participating.
Ensure that expectations are clear and discussed right from the start of
the module or sessions – do your students understand what contribution
the presentations and discussions are making, and why they are being
asked to do them?
Make any expectations of standards of presentation and/or discussion
clear – it’s always interesting to consider what’s been expected on other
modules of the course – it’s amazing how often tutors have very different
expectations and standards even when we think the standard is consistent
across the course. Do we even know if our standards and expectations
are consistent with our colleagues across a course?
Model effective practice yourself – and point out examples of good and not
so good in your own practice! (And for those of you who are naturally
perfect, why not make the odd mistake here and there so you can use
them as examples of what not to do – much better learned from you as
the example than hearing it about themselves first).
If it’s part of assessed work, ensure they have a chance to practise first
then improve – always works as an incentive. Or ask for volunteers to do
a mock presentation, which you use as a learning experience for everyone
before the assessment.
Scenario 6:
You have students who are developing a habit of not preparing for
their sessions
This can wear your patience and encourage you to avoid active teaching
methods. Try not to be put off! Other students resent other peers ‘free-loading’
on their hard work, and rightly so. Remember that this is about students who
persist in this behaviour – the occasional one-off instance is far more forgivable!
Things to try:
Take a similar approach to scenario 2 – find out why they avoid doing the work.
How can you do this?
– Discussion in class (you might not get the full story)
– Ask for individual and anonymous feedback - they might be more honest!
– Use that information to decide what is required
Suggestions:
– Make sure you have explained clearly the expectations about preparation
and discussed this with your students.
– Make sure they understand what is expected – ask what the problem is
and work on that.
– Make sure you actually use and build on their preparations in the session!
– nothing demotivates as fast as wondering – ‘why were we asked to do
that prep – wasn’t even referred to!’
– Consider asking them to submit their prep (online working can make this
easier eg ask everyone to post 1 or 2 discussion points or questions you
use in the seminar).
– Use electronic voting systems to get everyone contributing responses
anonymously. Once they see how you react to the contributions, they
may be more willing to discuss openly.
– Consider whether you are giving out any signals (like not using the preseminar prep in the session activities or cancelling your session at last
minute because of other commitments) that might be giving your students
the impression that seminars aren’t as important as everyone says.
– If other colleagues help you deliver the seminars – what have you done to
help them deliver them effectively?
– Adjust the activities to get them more actively involved in tackling the
topic from a perspective that interests them. Give them some choice and
influence over what they learn or how they study the topic
– Ensure that they can identify tangible learning and benefits from
participating in the session (important clarification of a topic or additional
information that they could not have gotten from the other sessions or
resources). If you just repeat what you did in a lecture – where’s the
point/benefit?
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Scenario 7:
One of your students persistently challenges every point you make
- and appears to want to undermine your authority and knowledge
Easy for this behaviour to distract you and others from the main task in hand
which is delivering the session as you had planned so that all students benefit. It
can also undermine your confidence and concentration. Try not to avoid jumping
to conclusions about their motivation. They may not realise the impact of their
behaviour on you and their fellow students. They might have something useful to
say, so turn it into an opportunity for constructive contributions rather than an
unhelpful distraction.
It’s important to avoid getting dragged into a ping-pong match with this student
as this will undermine your ability to ensure the lesson is delivered as planned,
meaning that other students miss out.
Try one of the following responses in the class to ensure you get the session back
on track and avoid it being devoted to a dialogue between you and one other
student:
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Talk to them afterwards. It may be a lack of confidence rather than overconfidence that’s behind the behaviour and having a direct, gentle word is
useful opportunity to tactfully explore reasons behind behaviour
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Don’t prolong the unhelpful conversation; acknowledge the point and then
ask someone else for their opinion
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Ask the other students what they think – don’t respond yourself
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Help them see the importance of helping others to develop the same
knowledge and experience they have by letting them contribute to
discussions
– Instead of a direct approach, use this as an opportunity to discuss and
agree ground rules for tutor and student behaviours in class - especially
how the group interact to discussions (set some questions they answer
and review all the responses).
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Scenario 8:
It seems difficult to get the students to engage in a discussion,
and you seem to end up speaking for the majority of the time in
your seminars to fill the silence
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Again – important to explore what’s causing their non-participation (is it
lack of preparation, or lack of confidence, lack of motivation?)
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Try to resist filling in the silence by speaking – it’s an easy trap to fall into
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Instead be willing to allow a silence to happen and then move the
discussion on by asking questions or stating things that prompt a
response, rather than giving them an answer (eg you could say something
along lines of ‘I find it hard to imagine that no-one in the group has any
opinions about this matter – no right or wrongs for now – just want to
hear your immediate impressions, and we’ll take it from there.’)
Alternatively, make a controversial point to get a debate started and be
ready to facilitate it
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Ensure they know what is expected of them and when – check that
understanding by getting them to explain or iterate it to you, ‘Who’d like
to recap the task I’ve set you all?’
Be prepared to design different and structured opportunities for interaction
– and manage these well so your students are clear about what to expect,
and who’s doing what
Structured opportunities could include presentations, teaching something,
explaining something, investigating something and reporting back, show
and tell, debates, case study analysis and presentation of findings,
experiment and report findings etc.
Or create opportunities for them to take it in turns to teach something in
the session – maybe in pairs initially to build up their confidence –
including designing it and the content.
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Don’t cave in! It might take a few weeks to see a change. Follow through
on what you have designed and expect – if you have asked them to do
something and they haven’t then work with the ones who have, while
getting the others to do the prep to catch up.
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Engage them by asking open, probing questions to which they can’t just
answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or give one/two word answers, but have to generate
more discussion.
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Provide short examples or extracts (videos, or you demonstrate) of doing
it well so they can get better at it.
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When someone else is presenting, involve the others by asking them to
come equipped with one question (or require them to create it in the
session), and/or help them peer review each other’s approach and give
constructive feedback about how to enhance further.
Scenario 9:
Your students’ attention seems to be on their mobiles rather than
the session
Try not to jump to conclusions about their motivation or what they’re doing.
They might be engaged and looking up further information about the topic and
learning at a pace faster than you are going. That needn’t necessarily mean they
aren’t learning. Check out by asking if they could share what they have found
out about the topic on their mobiles.
If they are disengaged, that’s another issue. ‘I notice some of you have your
mobiles handy – great: what info can you find to answer this question ……. Share
your findings and I’ll ask one or two of you to share with whole group’. This gets
them actively involved and puts the technology to good use to support their
learning by re-engaging them with the topic.
Perhaps some of them are bored because they are moving at a faster pace than
others. Again – can you harness this energy by setting those students a separate
task to do while you explain something to others. Then get them to share what
they have found out.
Technology can help make your sessions more engaging and interactive – to find
out more come along to one of the CPLD sessions ‘Lectures: From Audience to
Active Learner’ – see Programme of Events on CPLD website for more info.
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Scenario 10:
You are scheduled to deliver your session in a room where the
previous session usually over-runs by 10 minutes, meaning you
are late in starting and can’t cover your work
You could moan and winge, or share your anger and frustration with your
students, but will that passive aggressive behaviour solve the problem? The best
person to address it with is the other lecturer.
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REMEMBER NTU etiquette – to end our sessions 5 mins before the hour to
give enough time for our students to leave and the next class to come in
and settle, so we can start our sessions 5 mins past the hour.
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Maintain a professional attitude as you apologise for the delay to your
students, and follow this up with the other lecturer in private (face to face
or a phone call is more personable than email)
A useful and assertive 3-point framework for doing this is (bit like scenario
2 above):
1. describe the behaviour “I’ve noticed that you have over-run on the last
two sessions”
2. describe the consequences for you “This meant that I was unable to
get through what I needed to cover during my session’
3. ask them to agree a solution “How can we avoid the problem in the
future?”
Sometimes just acknowledging the situation and asking, ‘is there anything
I can do to help?’ is enough to prompt the other person to do something
to avoid the situation happening in the first instance
No need for histrionics or anger – that’s not constructive. Be assertive, not
passive or passive aggressive. Put yourself in their shoes – how would you
like the other person to talk it through with you?
If this doesn’t work, ensure you go into the room 5 minutes before the
end of the person’s session and get their attention to remind them you’re
in next. Remaining outside is often not enough of a hint – and you need to
use a more direct approach.
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Centre for Professional Learning and Development (CPLD) January 2015
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