Introduction
General Resources

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.

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"Dealing with Troublesome Behaviors in the Classroom," by Mary Deane Sorcinelli (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
Categorizes irritating and disruptive student behaviors, provides strategies for creating a classroom environment that can avert many problems, and suggests ways to deal with troublesome behaviors when they occur.
http://www.scottsdalecc.edu/adjunct/docs/DealingTroublesomeBehaviors.pdf

Responding to Disruptive or Threatening Student Behavior: A Guide for Faculty (Virginia Tech).
A nineteen-page manual for dealing with inappropriate, disruptive, or threatening behavior.
http://www.dos.vt.edu/documents/DisruptiveStudents-faculty.pdf

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.
http://www.indiana.edu/~csr/Civility PreReport.pdf

“The Civil Classroom in the Age of the Net,” by P.M. Forni, in The NEA Higher Education Thought and Action Journal (Fall 2008): 15-22.
Laments the decline in civil interaction on American college campuses, exacerbated by the Net, and provides ways in which a professor can foster an environment of engagement and relaxed formality.
http://krieger.jhu.edu/civility/civil_classroom.pdf

Wireless in the Classroom: Advice for Faculty (University of Wisconsin-Madison).
Setting ground rules and establishing laptop etiquette for best practices in the wireless-enabled classroom.
http://www.doit.wisc.edu/network/wireless/advice_fac.asp

“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.
http://www.umfk.maine.edu/pdfs/facultystaff/combatingmisconduct.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.
http://www.ntlf.com/html/pi/9710/strat.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.
http://www.tc3.edu/instruct/sbrown/fac/civilbib.htm

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