Academic Integrity and Classroom Management: Civility/Incivility in the College Classroom

Incivility is any kind of disruptive classroom behavior that shows disrespect or disregard for the instructor and fellow-students. It can dramatically diminish the effectiveness of a course and cause great stress for the instructor. This section starts with several sites that describe forms of incivility and current research on it. The remaining links provide practical approaches for reducing and dealing with disruptive classroom behaviors.

“Insubordination and Intimidation Signal the End of Decorum in Many Classrooms,” Alison Schneider. The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 27, 1998.
Professors complain that students’ uncivil behavior is on the rise. This article describes such behavior and responses to it by faculty and administrators.
Link: http://chronicle.com/colloquy/98/rude/background.htm

“Help for Bad Manners in the Classroom,” Carolyn Lieberg (University of Iowa, Center for Teaching).
Summarizes the research of Bob Boice and others into classroom incivilities, including both faculty and student behaviors that negatively affect the classroom climate.
Link: http://www.uiowa.edu/~centeach/talk/volume1/bad-manners.html

A Survey of Academic Incivility at Indiana University, Bloomington, Preliminary Report, June 14, 2000. Adobe Acrobat/PDF.
Results of a survey of faculty and graduate instructors asking about the extent and types of incivility they encountered, their responses, and their perceptions about who engages in incivility.
Link: http://www.indiana.edu/~csr/Civility PreReport.pdf

“Missed Expectations: Incivility in the Classroom.” Thriving in Academe, March 2000.
Discusses mismatched expectations between students and instructor as the cause of incivility in the classroom.
Link: http://www2.nea.org/he/advo00/advo0003/feature.html

“Reducing Incivility in the University/College Classroom,” Patrick J. Morrissette (Brandon University). International Electronic Journal for Leadership in Learning, Vol. 5, No 4, May 14, 2001.
Reviews the literature on student incivility and provides practical strategies for avoiding or diffusing it.
Link: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~iejll/volume5/morrissette.html

“Combating Classroom Misconduct (Incivility) with Bills of Rights,” Linda B. Nilson and Nancy S. Jackson (Clemson University).
Reviews prevention strategies presented in the literature on incivility and proposes another: class and instructor develop a mutual bill of rights and responsibilities on the first day of class. Includes example.
Link: http://www.uottawa.ca/services/tlss/iced2004/pages/nan.htm

Standards for Personal Responsibility and Classroom Decorum (MiraCosta College). Adobe Acrobat/PDF.
A statement for students that sets out MiraCosta’s expectations for academic work and personal conduct in the classroom.
Link: http://www.miracosta.cc.ca.us/home/kcunningham/AcademicStandards.pdf

“Strategies for Dealing with Troublesome Behavior in the Classroom,” Rosalind Reed (California State University, Chico). National Teaching and Learning Forum, Vol. 6, No. 6, October 1997.
Lists specific ways to deal with a variety of troublesome student behaviors.
Link: http://www.ntlf.com/html/pi/9710/strat.htm

“Encouraging Civil Behavior in Large Classes,” Mary Jean Sorcinelli (University of Massachusetts, Amherst). Essays on Teaching Excellence, Vol. 15, No. 8, 2003-2004.
Practical methods for creating a constructive classroom climate aimed at preventing disruptive behavior and strategies for dealing with misbehavior.
Link: http://www.kctcs.net/prodev/network/Encouraging Civil Behavior in Large Classes.htm

“Civility in the Classroom: An Annotated Link List,” Stan Brown.
An annotated list of 11 links to sites that discuss classroom incivility, each offering a different perspective on the issue.
Link: http://www.tc3.edu/instruct/sbrown/fac/civilbib.htm