Effective and supportive language, even in the face of adversity
Using supportive and constructive criticism is a communication trait that I always try to model with my online students. Even when a student is frustrated, I try to give advice that will help them meet their end goal in a very direct and constructive way. Not all students are good at mirroring this behavior. Any suggestions from any of you on how to encourage students to use less negative language (with each other and with their instructor) when they are frustrated?
Katina,
Constructive criticism can help students improve and understand why what they are doing wrong is wrong. Stay positive, but helpful. Thanks!
Hi, Katina,
Agnes here. Good to see you in the threads.
Anyway, I make sure there are rules of conduct in the announcement on the portal, as well as posted in the thread.
I keep reminding the students that they have to be professional and they need to control their frustration, no matter how justified.
I exert the effort not to get provoked, not matter how frustrated a student may be. I remind the students professionalism is part of their grade for the posts. If someone is truly disrespectful or unprofessional, I send out an individualized email.
This usually is sufficient to handle the situation.
Agnes,
Rules of conduct should be clear and concise and help students understand the purpose for them. Those personalized emails can be very effective. Thanks for sharing.
I am fortunate that our discussion board allows me to remove students comments from view easily. I work to refocus an angry student on commenting only on the reasons that they disagree rather than the person. They often don't realize that they are being unkind and usually respond well.
Bernard,
Refocusing students can be necessary in a variety of settings. If I do delete a post, I archive it along with the personal email I send to the student as well. Thanks!
