A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

68 ❘
Teaching, supervising, learning
Late arrivals
Unless there is very good cause, the expectation must be that students arrive on time, as
the lecture will start promptly. Although not generally acceptable, you may set a deadline
that they may enter the lecture up to ten minutes late, but should come in quietly. You may
wish to state that students should not come into the lecture theatre more than ten minutes
after the start.
The key is then to enforce these rules from the outset. If students arrive late and are still
chatting on entering the room, a hard stare may quieten them, or if this fails a pause will
make the point that you are waiting for quiet before continuing. Use of humour to
comment on late arrivals can be effective – it makes the point that it is not acceptable
while not escalating the disruption. If there are significant numbers of late arrivals, it is
worth checking why they are late. If there is no acceptable reason for their late arrival,
remind them of the ground rules.
Students chatting
Students know that they are not meant to be chatting in the lecture so it is not necessary
to make this a ground rule. Similar methods to those mentioned above – a hard stare, or
a short pause, may be enough to stop it. If it continues, ask the students directly if they
have any questions about what is being covered. In extreme cases, it might be necessary
to ask troublesome students to leave the class.
Use of mobile phones
The lecturer can ask students at the start of every lecture to switch off their mobile phones
– it could even be the first slide in your PowerPoint presentation. If a mobile phone
does go off, pause, looking in the direction of the noise. Again, humour might help here,
but use the occasion to remind students that they are breaking the ground rules and
disrupting others.
It is important for the lecturer to remain calm and measured in the face of disruption.
As already mentioned, humour can go a long way to prevent a problem from escalating.
The lecturer should have a quiet word after the lecture with any individuals causing
disruption. Dealing with disruptive behaviour can be stressful, and new lecturers may
want to discuss the problems they are having with a more experienced member of staff,
who can often give them advice and support.
If the disruption is so significant that the lecturer is unable to bring a lecture to
order, the only recourse may be to leave, but this should really be a last resort and rarely
used. Persistent and excessive disruption will have to be dealt with through more
formal channels. All universities have regulations that govern the discipline of students,