Managing problematic students

Chapter 16 of the Ultimate Training Workshop Handbook outlines various ways to encourage and handle participation in a workshop. The part I was most interested in involves how to deal with problematic participants. There are various problems that I see or think I might run into in my Comm 101 classes.

First Klatt outlines some suggestions for how to deal with students who under-participate. The first way he suggests is one way I already get students involved. I have them discuss what we are talking about with a partner. That puts them in a one-on-one situation where they have to really work on not participating. That way I can then call us back into a group discussion and I can call on people if they don't participate and I know they have talked about the subject somewhat so I hopefully am less likely to be met with a blank stare. Klatt also makes a few other suggestions including polling students - I have tried this and find that many students just don't bother participating in the poll - and giving lots of verbal and nonverbal feedback - which I think can help somewhat as it shows students they will get reinforcement if they do participate. I have used the first strategy a lot in my early Comm 101 class because my students can just sit there sleepy and not participate. I'm glad I now have another idea to incorporate!

The next problem goes in the opposite direction, how to deal with students who over-participate - those dominating students who think that everything they have to say is the most important thing (I'm sure every teacher sees them at some point and I have one very boring one in one of my classes!). Again, just getting the students into a one-on-one situation here can help and then the student will have a chance to get their point out there. I can also be assured that everyone will have at least something to say so I can call on other students who are not speaking up because one student is dominating. Klatt also says just giving that student recognition can be enough since that is all they might be seeking. Another way to deal with the student might be to ask closed-ended questions - although I don't think this is something I want to do often because I like to foster discussion with open-ended questions - and simply asking other students to join in can be helpful.

Finally, managing when participants are overly agressive is another issue Klatt outlines some potential solutions to. Giving the person attention and showing their point is made can be helpful in making sure they know they are heard - writing down their point on the board or repeating it back to them. The author suggests using humor carefully or being direct and asking the student to reserve their judgment for the moment. I have used the latter strategy in my classes. Specifically, I have one student who likes to play "devil's advocate" and question a lot of things that I am talking about. Sometimes I just have to ask them to reserve their comments to the end of my lecture and I'll give time for questions then. Usually they just forget or boil it down to one comment so it has proved somewhat effective so far.