Managing the Learning Environment

It's a typical day in your class. As you lecture, several students come in late, several students are checking their iPhone, two students are engaged in an animated conversation, punctuated by laughter, several heads turn to see what's happening, one student in the back of the room is resting his head against the wall with his eyes closed. You are discouraged by this behavior, yet you're not sure how to address it. Establishing a productive learning environment constitutes one of the most challenging aspects of teaching and is a difficult skill to master. Failure to create and sustain such an environment will impact your effectiveness as an instructor and the quality of students' learning experiences. Disruptive student behavior not only impacts and interferes with a productive learning and teaching environment it also contributes to student and instructor discontent, stress, and frustration. This session will address practice‐based classroom management approaches that will help instructors create favorable conditions for learning including, incorporating classroom management principles into the syllabus, establishing rapport with students, setting clear expectations and communication, engaging students with the content and each other, and asking for formative student feedback throughout the course. Instructors will leave with preventive strategies that you they may include in their own teaching. Resources will be provided to help instructors implement instructional strategies that support a positive learning environment and most appropriately align with their particular teaching contexts and philosophies.