Conflict can be defined as a situation that exists when two opposing forces have a different point of view and one or both  wants to force his/her will on the other. In an academic setting conflict between students and professors can arise when a student feels they have taken a correct position on an assignment, written or involving mathematical concepts , and the professor indicates their position is not correct. All but one of my assignments involves math or statistics. When students present their work and expect 100% of the points even though the answer is wrong, because they feel they have properly presented the concept, conflicts will exist between them and me as the instructor.

Conflict from my point of view is an unresolved situation, where different sides see something from a different perspective. In an academic setting, some students' force their will based on what they perceive to do based on an assignment regardless of the assignment directions, rubric, or instructors directions. Unfortunately in today's academic environment, there is a lack of respect of people when asked to conform to an assignment, a grade given to a student, or class policy which conflicts with their beliefs, thinking they deserve something without performing the assignment (entitled) even if the student or students' fail to perform the assignment correctly.

Hi Frank and Joseph,

Thank you for sharing your similar experiences with students' perspectives and expectations regarding their academic performance, the quality of their assignment submission, and subsequent grade expectations. 

Would you be willing to share how you handled the ensuing conflict between you and the students as well as the outcome with us?

Reflecting back on the situation, is there something you would have handled differently that might have changed the outcome?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Good morning, Everyone!

Disclosure first: My response comes from my mediator training, PhD psychology, professor, education coach, and cheerleader for the students I mentor.

Conflict, like beauty, can be thought of as in the perception of the beholder(s). From my perspective, conflict is a sharp ending to a nonacceptance or inability to listen, learn, and understand the differences that spawn arguments of position. Positions are often unmovable beliefs on the board of how we think of ourselves.

Frank, I will use your math/stats sharing as an example of how I approach differences of opinion in the classroom, on campus and online. Psychology has many concepts, as does the world of numbers, and many, while not solidly concrete, hold the honor of significance over time and circumstance.

So I have grading that awards points for concept, context, and style. Students must apply concepts of their choice from the weekly readings to a circumstance that they are personally involved with or that they have a vision or goal. I think of this as an A + B = C (Concept + Context + Application). So partial credit for explaining the concepts in the appropriate context. Few reach the 100% goal, though most fall within the 75-90% range. Students must choose their topic from the readings and write every week, an APA paper of less (and I stress less) than 500 words.

Writing is difficult for the first and second-year students, and choosing their topic is even more of a problem because not one student in any of my classes has ever been given the opportunity to choose a topic.

Okay, so my point after walking around a wide block to cross a narrow street is this: When I give students the responsibility of choice, they are full participants (stakeholders) in the outcome. When differences arise, and they often do, between what a student wants and what a student has earned, we share a phone conference with video or in-person conference, review their work together, and then I ask pertinent questions. A few students fail, less than 1%, but failure is also a choice, and while I state to students who come under the umbrella of “help,” that I will try my best to help them avoid failure, the choice is always theirs to own.

As a side note and one that avoids escalation of differences is that I replace their first grade with the highest earned during a term because the first paper is always, well, honestly, not so good.  

I have only experienced conflict within a domestic relationship where violence results in mediation, usually ordered by a court. Conflict can be mediated with some form of understanding, except with untenable differences, such as what occurred with Sudan. As I was researching and writing a paper, I felt abject frustration and wrote that I felt the conflict was not resolvable, and the rest of the story is history now.

 Again from my perspective, learning how to listen to students offers a principal entrance to the realm of resolving differences and hurt feelings. In most cases of professional mediation and my classroom, folks just need to know that someone is listening to his or her frustration, hurt feelings, and objections. In the end and for students, my final decision rests with the syllabus (mine is rather lengthy, though point bulleted) and my experience with a student's progress and sincerity. I hope this makes sense. 

Hello Mary:

I have been teaching in higher education for the past 19 years. It has been a blessing from our Father. However, for the past several years I have been noticing students' who are unwilling to perform assignments based on the assignment directions and course rubrics, they perform the assignments based on what they want to do. 2% to 5% of these students' are not prepared academically to be in higher education. They have poor writing skills, mathematical skills, and are not able to perform as a student should in an academic setting. These students' do not conform to the academic requirements of the college or the university they attend and are critical and even hostile if you expect them to conform. 

This past year in my undergraduate Capstone course (BUS 485) I had a student who sent me several disparaging messages and sent several disparaging public comments about me in my class for 8 weeks. After the student sent her second public disparaging remarks to me, I reported her to GCU through a Class Incident Report (CIR). What was really troubling about this for me, a GCU Faculty Training & Development Specialist I was working with did nothing to stop this. The GCU Faculty Training & Development Specialist stated, "You should not have submitted a CIR on this student." This student's academic performance was poor, she had several late assignments, her assignments did not meet the criteria based on the assignment directions and assignment rubrics, she caused problems on her team, and she was very confrontational. For eight weeks I sent early alerts on this student, but I did not receive any word from her academic advisor. In my opinion, this student should have been dropped from my class.

Regards,

Joseph

The various viewpoints in this discussion are interesting and indicate how we all approach conflicts differently. I am always open to discussion with the student and welcome their calls or I will call them when necessary. I have never experienced anything as drastic as Mr. Kennedy's situation although occasionally on the ECOS forms I see comments that indicate the student may have required more attention and felt that on line courses were not the right way to handle material that involves mathematical solutions when examples cannot be provided in the classroom. The text in most cases provides good examples. Students who are not self learners will find the on line classroom difficult and may therefore have conflicts with the professor thinking they are not getting good instruction. 

In my announcements I always state I am here to help, please do not be afraid to ask questions in either the instructors forum or the individual forum or by calling during office hours . In my last class involving 24 students I had over 300 posts in the individual forum from any number of students. Some requested direct help and review of submissions prior to posting. I always accommodate those requests s it avoids conflicts regarding procedures after grading is done. Unfortunately I have other classes of this size where I may only get 20 or 30 individual forum help requests. When the students do not ask for help is when I notice conflicts arise that are usually expressed in ECOS. There is no way to work around that situation that I know of. When we as instructors are willing and ready to help but never approached there is not much we can do if the student feels there is a conflict of interest. 

I do agree with Mr. Kennedy in that I find many students ill prepared particularly when it comes to math. If they ask for help I am more than willing to give it to them. If they do not there is not much I can do. Because of the math issues and because my last assignment in week 8 involves linear equations and graphing that the students in general do not seem able to grasp I inform them to get a math tutor in week 1. Since I started doing that I rarely have a student that does not do well on that assignment. Conflicts are resolved this way.

Hi Cherri,

In your experience with the domestic violence incident that resulted in a court-mandated mediation, would you suggest that the outcome could have been non-violent if an escalation could have been prevented through a third-party intervention of some kind?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hello Joseph and Frank,

Have you noticed any gender differences with regard to a student's willingness to ask questions or otherwise communicate with you if they have concerns or are struggling in one of your classes?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Mary Ann, you asked "In your experience with the domestic violence incident that resulted in a  court-mandated mediation, would you suggest that the outcome could have  been non-violent if an escalation could have been prevented through a  third-party intervention of some kind?"

In general, "Yes." We would need to know what factors existed that might have influenced a violent or series of violent acts, the availability of resources relevant to the factors, the willingness of the persons involved directly and indirectly (I am thinking of two adults in a home with children or some type of social situation), and the demographics involved. Many situations could greatly be helped with an appropriate intervention by persons trained in specific situational events. Sometimes an intervention can lead to an exacerbation of the existing problem(s). So, not a yes or no answer, though again, generally an intervention can help and prevent violent acts. I hope this makes sense.

One experience (that I referred to in my post) could have benefited from an intervention by either a volunteer or other group that visits the homes of families or single moms with newborns who live in impoverished areas. That the court was involved came from a police report and no intervention was considered. The mediation was set by the court to determine if the situation could be helped with conversation. Unfortunately, there was no resolve and the matter was returned to a judge for a ruling. Very sad situation.

Some of the potential sad situations I have encountered are minimized or resolved with family education coaching. I am referring to coaching I do with parents and their children that involve school incidents, learning needs, or low grades. I like that I can bring parents and their children closer in understanding when the conversation/discussion is about each teaching the other something they did not know and could help with. I believe working with children and parents in this way teaches good conversation practices and most importantly, the art of listening. 

Thanks for your question ~ Enjoy your holiday weekend ~

Hi Everyone,

Happy 4th of July!

In our endeavors to mitigate and manage conflict within our online classes, developing expertise in more that one type of conflict resolution process is necessary, such as negotiation [with a student or students] and mediation [between students].

Which of these two processes do you perceive as being more challenging for you and why?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Cherri,

Your comments and contributions to our discussion are very much appreciated in this forum.

Best regards,

Mary Ann 

Hello Mary and fellow colleagues:

Happy fourth of July to all of you!

My particular issue is two fold when dealing with conflict with students:

First, based on the assignments in our classes, students' are required to perform the assignments based on the assignment and rubric instructions. When students' deviate from these instructions and interpret what they want to do on their assignments this causes conflict. As I stated in my other posts, there are some students' who will perform their assignments based on what they want to do, not based on the assignment or rubric instructions. Also, these students' are unwilling to abide by the course assignment instructions and become irate when I as the instructor of the class inform them otherwise.

Second, this particular category has two elements:

A) These students' do not have the skills to perform well in an academic setting. Either their writing skills, mathematical skills, or both need continual remediation. However, during the course, I inform these students that they need to receive help from either the student success center or the tutoring center within the resource section within the online class, however; they neglect to do what I ask them to do and carry on without receiving help. As the course progresses, these students' become agitated, because; their performance on their assignments are poor, thus their grades reflect their overall performance in my class.

B)  These students' have the capability to do well in all classes, however; their negative attitude and emotions reveal disrespect. Whenever I send a message to these students' providing my remarks about their assignments, they state things like: 

• The assignment directions did not state this, where is this stated in the assignment?
• Why do I need to do this?
• You are making this more complicated than the assignment requires.
• I always made an "A" in all of my other classes, why am I making these grades in your class?
• All throughout this program (MBA or Undergraduate business program) I was never required to do this, why are you making me do this now? (I receive this message all the time referring to citing and sourcing in APA format)
• I should receive an "A" on this assignment, I am sure my assignment it is better than most students' in this class.
• I do not agree with the grade I received and your remarks. I will be calling my academic advisor.
• I demand an "A" on this assignment.

As an instructor working with different age groups of students, such as millennials; it would be greatly appreciated to receive training on this particular age group.

Best regards,

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

In your communication with these students, are the Individual Forum and the QFI your primary means of communication or do you also conference with them via the telephone, Skype, etc.?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hello Mary:

When I submit my remarks to my students for each assignment within my classes, it is in the comments section for their assignments. When I send a student a concern about their assignments, I ONLY communicate to my students' within the individual forum, then I submit an Early Alert to the student's academic advisor. The Question to Instructor (QIF) forum is used by me to ONLY explain the specifics of the assignments for the entire class.

I would never use the comments section within the online course drop-box or the Question to Instructor forum to inform my students about my concerns. In addition, I do call my students' on the phone. Once a person answers the phone, I ask them two questions to verify who they are, based on FERPA requirements/regulations for GCU.

Regards,

Joseph

I have received similar comments to those you are getting on occasion. There is really nothing more that you can do other than to explain that is what the assignment requires. If they want to take their concerns up with the advisors that is their prerogative. As long as you are presenting the material properly and following the assignments as written there is really no more to do than to explain to the student that you are following proper procedure as outlined by GCU. The conversation just needs to be done privately on the individual forum or through E mail or telephone. However, do not be surprised to find that negative attitude coming through on the EOCS. If you feel the students are being abusive you are free to take that up with the dean of the particular college involved. I have found them to be very supportive.

Can you describe the circumstances involved where one would negotiate with a student or mediate between students. My classes are all on line so I would not normally be involved in mediation. . If a student finds I have made a mistake in grading and I agree I will change the grade is that what you mean by negotiating?

Hello Mary and Joseph,

Mary, thanks for your kind words ~ This is an interesting discussion because of its focus on relationships in the classroom, online or on campus.

Mary, you wrote, “In our endeavors to mitigate and manage conflict within our online classes, developing expertise in more that one type of conflict resolution process is necessary, such as negotiation [with a student or students] and mediation [between students].

Which of these two processes do you perceive as being more challenging for you and why?”

Joseph, oh my gosh, where to begin. Well, I will start with how sorry I am that you have experienced the student demands that you bulleted. However, in answering Mary’s question and your statement about millennials, I feel there are a few significant relevancies between yours and Mary’s post.  

Negotiation or mediation? Well, both types of processes are used, and many times in the same conversation, again depending on the situation. The main difference from my perspective is that mediation is non-binding, whereas negotiation may require some agreement, such as with institutional mandates about rubric adherence. I think of student/instructor conflict (as you bulleted in student statements) as a negotiated mediation. I have experienced many of the sentiments you provided, though one as a classmate and the other as an instructor exemplify how the negotiation/mediation process helps to reduce stress, tension, and positioning.

As a doctoral student, one of my instructors graded with kind, helping comments, though following strict style, grammar, and course requirements. One classmate sent an e-mail to all students asking for a group demand to remove the instructor, and return to “responsible grading.” In a private e-mail discussion, I asked the student to describe what led to the complaint. The answer included all eight of your examples, pasted in from other classmate private conversations ~ (sad face from me now). So, I engaged all classmates and the leader in a group e-mail to describe what they would consider responsible grading for themselves, and asked one question, “Have you learned anything that you did not know before this course?” Considering their e-mail correspondence, class discussion posts, and letter to the university president, writing skills needed attention. I was not able to hold that mediation mirror of reality that leads to recognition and often some degree of reconciliation. My mirror included my struggle in that course that included several nights weekly with less than 4 hours of sleep because I was studying APA and working diligently to improve my writing skills. The instructor was one of the best I have been privileged to learn from, including my professors at a few of our elite colleges. The instructor went on to a management position, still teaches, and no mediation or negotiation resulted in the student demands.

As an instructor with most of my students on athletic scholarships, one student was not able to write on a second-grade level. The student was failing. Employing my best mediation and motivation skill sets, I wrote a contract that included a specific time to complete missing assignments and some points that would be reduced for each assignment. The student signed the contract, met with the writing center and retention tutors and specialists, completed the tasks within the specified time, and then asked me to reduce the number of points taken off for late submits. We negotiated a good reduction, and the student passed the class. The student continued to visit the writing center for every class that required written assignments.

Both experiences involved millennials.

Joseph, I am not able to retrieve a copy of this article because I am going through GCU training now. Here is the reference: Goldman, Z. W., Cranmer, G. A., Solitto, M., Labelle, S., & Lancaster, A. L. (2017). What do college students want? A prioritization of instructional behaviors and characteristics. Communication Education, 66(3), 280-298. doi:10.1080/03634523.2016.1265135

Also, this link on ScholarGoogle offers many available articles on Millennials in college -> https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=characteristics+of+millennial+college+students&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C11&as_ylo=2015&as_yhi=2018

In my experience mentoring and teaching college students at all degree levels, millennials are social media savvy, yet have some difficulty transferring that experience to the academic online classroom. Most I have worked with struggle with writing skills, as visual is a significant learning modality. Imagine that many MBA degree programs ask for a video to replace the entrance essay, and some are using Twitter-style statements; please see more here-> http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-application/4222/b-school-admissions-go-digital

So entering my class (psychology courses), all students must complete and send me screen shots for one online course readiness assessment, and three learning style assessments. All are free and online. A first-week grade (16-17 weeks total) of 100% is earned if completed, and I have to provide additional learning modalities to process the text material. I even offer extra credit points to complete tasks from alternative modalities that offer students a way to apply the knowledge to something they are familiar with in their lives or future goals. Since I started to use these assessments, I have encountered no sustained complaints because everyone has a way to learn that suits their learning style.

And, Joseph, I so agree with you that training for the different generational learning needs would be a great help, even if just a relevant article or examples from professors, instructors, and facilitators.

Thanks for reading through my comments ~ I apologize for the length (I am still working on concisity) ;->)

Hi Frank,

Yes, that would constitute a form of negotiation with a student when a concern over a grade arises.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Cherri,

No need to apologize for contributing a very detailed and informative post.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone,

One of the well-known conflict management styles models was created by Thomas and Kilmann, and I am embedding a link to this instrument here for your review:

http://careerassessmentsite.com/tests/thomas-kilmann-tki-tests/about-the-thomas-kilmann-conflict-mode-instrument-tki/

How would you identify your personal conflict management style simply based upon these descriptions?

Why would this be advantageous for you to know?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hello Mary:

One of the classes I teach is organizational Behavior, where leaders are required to know thyself, especially their emotional and their stress point levels. The graduate course I teach for GCU MGT 605 is an excellent course that provides the materials needed for business leaders. Based on Thomas and Kilmann, the two areas of my conflict style are:

1. Collaborating

2. Compromising

However, based on my earlier post within this forum, when I have students' who demand an "A" for an assignment, that does not meet the minimum requirements for the assignment, especially based on the assignment rubric, I will not be flexible. Students' are expected to perform the assignment based on the assignment directions and use the assignment rubrics to proofread their work. In my perspective, one of the major flaws in our education system today, is grade inflation, where instructors are giving students' grades they do not deserve. This is caused by administrative pressure from colleges and universities and adjuncts who are fearful of their part-time jobs.

Regards,

Joseph Kennedy

Hello Joseph,

Is it possible that our online academic environment is more conducive to having students assume a more demanding and adversarial position with their professors regarding their grades, etc.?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Mary,

  I am sorry for not contributing to this forum since it began this month. Just so you know that I am a new faculty member with minimal experience in the teaching field. Could you please elaborate on how a new faculty member would benefit from this forum and use the tools to succeed in a class room setting? What does conflict mean to you? A conflict is a disagreement between two opposing views. Students sometimes disagree with their Professors on how tests or an assignments should be graded. It  takes time and effort to resolve such conflict. Thank you,

Abdul Kennie

Hello Abdul,

Welcome to our discussion forum and to the GCU faculty!

In response to your queries, this forum can be beneficial to faculty members and ultimately to their students because it provides an open discussion of how conflict may be defined particularly as it relates to online classes. However, I would also like to suggest, that the discoveries that we make here in the forum, would also be applicable across other contexts, such as our personal lives. For example, typically when the word, "conflict" enters the conversation, it is perceived as a negative although when conflict arises to disrupt the equilibrium of a situation, it is often an opportunity to initiate change. Online classroom environments can be more challenging since we are missing the verbal component so we are usually interpreting communication with our students through their writings. So, if we factor in the influence of cultural differences, you can see where accurate communicate can run amok as a result of what they include or fail to include in their writings.

So, this forum allows all of us to share our experiences with our students in our online classes as well as to brainstorm solutions to the various conflicts that have arisen so that we can formulate a better idea of what "works" or does not "work" as well with the strategies that we have personally devised and utilized in our online classes or possibly in our on-campus classes. It is interesting to also compare and contrast the differences between the two venues with regard to patterns of conflict, its management and resolution.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Grade inflation can be a problem if the professors do not stay on track and only give grades that are correct. The only additional help I give students is I will review their work on specific problems if they have questions. The sad thing is the students who need the most help and generally flunk the course are the ones that rarely ask for help. I post my offer to help in the announcements and advise the students of free tutors. I also list helps for the most difficult math problem on a module by module basis.  Of course we  know that students do not always read the announcements. The only way I have found to solve that problem is by posting the announcement in DQ1 week 1. I allow participation credit for responding to the posting the same as I would a CAT. In fact I call the announcement a CAT. Once a student has acknowledged they have read the welcome/policy announcement, with all of the policies listed and indicate that they understand the policies and rules for the class, if I get push back regarding a grade that the announcements specifically covered I refer them to the announcements and the fact that they did not ask questions regarding them. I have never had a problem with a student who seems to think they deserve a better grade when the reason for the grade is covered in the opening announcement's week 1 that they indicate they have read, understand and have no questions about. 

Hi Everyone,

Much of our discussion up to this point, has involved the professor-student online communication and relationship, but we also should consider the student-student online communication and relationship which raises the question regarding your experiences with conflict that has arisen between students during your online courses.

If you have encountered a student-to-student dispute of some type, under what circumstances did it occur, and how did you resolve it?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hello Mary:

RE: Team CLC Assignments

Within my online classes, especially within team assignments, I require all of my students' to have all communications to their fellow team members within the team forum area, this is required. Within my past online classes, I had team members who were critical to each other expressing their views to each other on their cell phones or others areas I was not able to review. When students' complained about what was stated to them, I informed them I was not privy to what was stated. 

In addition, I require all teams' communications to be within the team forum area, because of the collaboration aspect of the team CLC assignment.

Best regards,

Joseph Kennedy

Hi Joseph,

I adhere to the same instructions for the students who enroll in my online classes, but I was amazed at the frequency with which the members of the CLC teams choose to communicate outside of their assigned CLC forum via Skype, telephone, and other types of social media.

I also remind them that collaboration is part of the CLC assignment, and not just the quality of end product [writing assignment].

Best regards,

Mary Ann

I have had conflicts over group projects and participants not all doing there part.  Any suggestions?  I have reached out to the students and their advisors, but I can't force them to complete the work.  I do grade each on the participation on their forum and if no participation they get 0.  I would love more idea's.

Also another conflict is the grades.  Some students want to do very little and think they should get full points.  I explain exactly what substantial means and the expectations, but there are always those select few who grumble over their grades.

Julie

Hello Mary,

I read the question of student - student conflict, I had one situation and I sent each an faculty alert and individual forum message that it was inappropriate and went against GCU policy.  Is there more I should have done?  This did resolve the issue.

Hello Mary:

I had a few students' in my class who abused this policy and made inappropriate comments in my classes. Now; I do not let students' in my class post public comments in my class. I state: If you have a concern in my class, you are to only send me a message in the "Individual Forum." Students' are not allowed to make public announcements in my class.

Best regards,

Joseph

Hi Julie,

Welcome to our discussion forum!

In my announcements pertaining to CLC projects in my courses that require them, I include the phrase that "I reserve the right to grade each CLC team member individually" which is based upon their collaborative efforts and consistent communication with all of their team members to produce a quality end product that adheres to the criteria that has been outlined for that CLC project. That phrase seems to have helped most students to understand that they will not automatically receive the same grade as their other team members if they do not put in the same time and effort as they do.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Julie,

Regarding your query of the student:student conflict, sending a faculty alert and each student a message in the Individual Forum would be the advisable procedure in an effort to manage and mitigate the possibility of escalating conflict in your online classroom.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Joseph,

Where were your students making inappropriate comments, such as the discussion board or QFI? What type of comments were involved (personal, course-related, etc.)?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hello Mary:

Within my undergraduate and graduate level courses I have taught with GCU, I have had students' send me several disparaging messages to me within the individual forum, but also posted disparaging information in the Team forum areas and sent the entire class messages within my classes. 

I have made it a policy for my online classes, no students' are to make public announcements in my class.

Regards,

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

One of the observations I have made regarding conflict typically occurs when a student has no "real" grounds to complain about their grade because it has been awarded by the professor as a direct function of their class performance or lack thereof. It is at this stage that the student's reactive behavior resorts to disparaging messages, threats, and/or harassing behavior which can be manifested as a barrage of emails, text messages, and telephone calls outside of the office hours that we post online. It does not happen very often, but I have had students call me at 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. in the morning because they are upset about a grade, an assignment box has closed, etc. 

When the student-professor conflict deteriorates into abusive or inappropriate behavior, I will contact the student in an effort to bring the conflict back to a professional level. If this is unsuccessful, I will file an faculty alert inappropriate behavior/abuse complaint with the University.

Best regards,
Mary Ann

Hi Everyone,

One of the conflicts I typically have at least once in my graduate-level research methods classes occurs with the mid-term and final exams. At the beginning of each course, I post an announcement detailing "tips" on how-to successfully take these exams to avoid having them time-out. Unless there is an issue with GCU's website, Loud Cloud, or some other technological problem, I will reopen a student's mid-term or final exam one time which does raise some complaints with students who do not follow my instructions regarding not walking away from the computer once they have opened the exam, etc.

What are your procedures for dealing with this type of student conflict in your classes?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hello Mary:

If a student resorts to "conflict that is based on abusive or inappropriate behavior;" it is my perspective that this student be reported to the college and university immediately through a class incident report (CIR). This is inappropriate behavior, which in a real business organization, a person would be fired for their conduct and actions. I take this seriously, especially; when our institution is a christian University. All of us are expected to act as Jesus Christ would. Displaying abusive or inappropriate behavior is not what this university is about or our ethos statement.

Best regards,

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

You brought up an excellent point when commenting, "This is inappropriate behavior, which is a real business organization, a person would be fired for their conduct and actions." 

Although I have had to file a few CIRs during the seven years that I have taught for GCU, I have never received any further communication pertaining to the incident once the CIR has been submitted. Have you experiences a similar outcome to your filing of CIRs?

Do you feel that additional conflict resolution communication from the University would help to mitigate any remaining dispute between the student and professor?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

I do find it a bit disconcerting that we hear nothing back from the university when a CIR is turned in. I would vote , if we are voting, that GCU should give the professor involved feedback about the resolution.

Hello Mary:

RE: Once a Class Incident Report is submitted for a student

Yes, I have. It would be greatly appreciated if someone would contact the faculty member to discuss the concern of the faculty member, especially; based on a student's inappropriate behavior in our classes. I truly believe the student should receive counseling based on their inappropriate behavior.

Best regards,

Joseph

Hi Frank and Joseph,

I will check with Faculty Services about this, in an effort to see whether we could receive comments and feedback pertaining to the students about whom we have to file a CIR.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone,

From a Systems Design format which addresses conflict analysis, conflict management and resolution from a macro level by investigating it as the culture that exists within a specific business, institution, organization, association, and so forth, how might the policies and procedures of the academic culture or the academic institutions correlate with the conflicts that arise in online classes? Why might this be the case? How can it be addressed?

Best regards,

Mary Ann 

Hello Mary:

From my perspective concerning conflict from an online class, this is espoused by the fact that the online class is impersonal. I know we require our students' to post their limited biography on the class wall, but; we need to include more aspects within the online class that makes it less impersonal by using technology. However, the technology needs to be user friendly, such as: Face to face communications with our students, example Skype or any other technology that would be conducive for two way communications to enhance commonality between student and faculty.

Best regards,

Joseph

Hi Everyone,

I have received an email response back regarding my query to GCU that addresses our lack of a response to the filing of a CIR:

Hi MaryAnn,

I know this an ongoing source of frustration for some instructors.  This is handled by Academic Compliance, and there is nothing we can do about the practice/policy.  The only time an instructor will hear back from Academic Compliance about a Classroom Incident Report that has been filed is if they determine that there is any action needed by the instructor.   For example, I had to contact an instructor the other day because AC determined that there was no plagiarism found, as reported by the instructor in the CIR, and the instructor needed to award credit for the DQ response for which she thought plagiarism was present and had filed the CIR.  So for the most part, instructors can assume unless they hear from us about the CIR, AC has acted appropriately regarding what was reported.  That’s the best we can do at this point to support the instructors in this issue.

 Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Joseph,

My alma mater, Nova Southeastern University was using WebCT as its online platform which gave professors and students a great deal more latitude in conducting and personalizing their classes. For example, professors had the option of holding "virtual classes" and "virtual meetings" weekly or at their discretion where we would all be attending class with the professor simultaneously. WebCT had all of the components available: audio, video, whiteboard, chat, and so forth.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hello Mary:

Thank you for your post informing us that GCU Academic Compliance will not contact us when we submit a CIR. The only time they will contact us, is to inform us if we have to change a students' grade. I am really concerned about this, especially; when it deals with student inappropriate behavior in our classes. 

As I stated before, I had a student in my online class for 8 weeks who acted inappropriately. Does this mean, I have to file a class incident report every week? I do not understand why faculty members are not in the loop when students' act inappropriately, this is our class; we should have first hand knowledge and access to what this student was informed and what they are required to do, and if there are any consequences if they continue with their inappropriate behavior in our classes?

This needs to be brought up to the GCU Faculty Senate or GCU Policy adjudication committee based on student behavior!

Regards,

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

Contacting the GCU Faculty Senate or GCU Policy Adjudication Committee might be a place to contact in an effort to find out what the process might be to initiate a change in the existing policy.

Please let us know what response you receive from them.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone,

A colleague shared an interesting weblink with me that addresses "the four sides of a message" which I am including here for your review:

http://www.kraus-partner.eu/change-management/wiki/4-ears-modelfour-sides-of-a-message

It provides us with insight regarding the complexity of communication between the sender of the message as well as the receiver of the message, and why our communication sometimes is likely to run amok.

I look forward to your comments ....

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hello Mary:

I am an adjunct business professor with GCU, I do not have the authority to initiate this process. This must be initiated from full time faculty members from GCU.

Best regards,

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

I will look into this further ...

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone,

Within the field of conflict resolution, there is an acronym known as BATNA which represents the "best alternative to a negotiated agreement." By considering one's own BATNA, a professor can decide whether it is better to negotiate with a student or to select a different alternative. To an extent, employing one's BATNA falls under a power approach rather than an interest based approach to conflict resolution so there is a positive relationship between the strength of your BATNA and the strength of your bargaining power. In addition, you can strengthen your BATNA by employing a power approach (Fisher, Ury, and Patton, 1997).

Under what circumstances or situations that could arise in your online class, can you envision yourself using this type of strategy?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Reference: 

Fisher, R., Ury, W.., & Patton, B. (1997). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in (3rd ed.). New York: Penguin.

Hi Everyone,

When dealing with conflict in an online class, we often use a power-based approach due to the professor-student relationship. However, how might the dynamics of the situation change if we were to use an interest-based approach which incorporates the following:

1. Our focus is on interests, not positions

2. We invent options for mutual gain

3. We apply objective criteria

4. We endeavor to improve our communication

5. We build a positive conflict resolution relationship

6. We consider what alternatives are available

7. We obtain commitments to follow through

How might you incorporate this type of approach into your online classes if/when conflict does arise?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Reference:

Fisher, R., Ury, W.., & Patton, B. (1997). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in (3rd ed.). New York: Penguin.

 Regarding inventing options for mutual gain does that include allowing work for extra credit when a student is failing the class? I have been asked that question by students on several occasions and taken the position that is not allowed when taking on line classes.  Allowing extra credit for a student creates a problem for the entire class in my mind. If I allow it for one student do I allow it for all. If the grade for the week has already been posted how does one add it to the grading box. I have never received a clear answer regarding this therefore do not allow it. Students tell me however other professors do.

Hi Frank,

When I have had to contact Faculty Services to ask a similar question, the first thing I am typically asked is whether the student is passing the class. So, I am assuming that allowing students a certain amount of latitude is based upon whether or not they have a passing grade for the class at that point.

Comments, anyone?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone,

I would like to provide some suggestions that I have found to be helpful when addressing conflict with a student in an online course that might be helpful to you:

* Calm yourself (which can be beneficial to both you and the student)

* Express empathy (if/when appropriate)

* Reframe resistance 

* Cultivate patience (refer back to #1)

* Seek support from your peers

* Consider the length of the term of the relationship you have with the student (just one class, multiple classes, and so forth)

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone,

The response I have received from GCU regarding the communication with professors after they have filed a CIR is not up for review and will therefore remain the same.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone,

Our discussions for July will be ending this week, so if there is a particular related topic you would like to discuss, please post it here prior to the conclusion of this month.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hello, Mary Ann and Everyone!

Thank you, Mary Ann, and All for an informative and helpful series of questions, responses, and thoughtful analyses of many common and shared experiences in our classrooms and, truth be told, in our lives. 

My one discussion wish in the future is for real-life scenarios presented as a case study, maybe a workshop?

Thanks again, Mary Ann, for an informative and thought-provoking discussion. 

Sincerely, 

Cherri Brown

Hello Cherri,

Your comments and feedback are most appreciated! 

Perhaps we could arrange with GCU to conduct a workshop which could be published as a case study that incorporates real-life scenarios involving conflicts arising in online classes? If interactive role-plays could be initiated in real-time we would be utilizing conflict resolution and/or conflict management theory as well as practical application (praxis) for our attendees. This would allow the participants to experience both roles as our students as well as their more typical role of professor. This would also allow them to become part of finding the solutions and/or strategies for mitigating and resolving many of the conflicts that they are likely to encounter in their online courses.

In graduate school at Nova Southeastern University in the online courses, we used WebCT which allows us access to virtual classrooms where we could meet weekly with our professors in real-time to engage in role-plays and other types of interactive involvement.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hello, Mary Ann!

Thank you for your response and sharing the information from your graduate experience. And Yes! I use various modalities for Internet mediation, though I am not so fond of not being able to set up a room (furniture, especially the chairs), and the ability to ever so slightly raise/lower my hand on the table when a participant on my right or left (I try always to follow this set up) as a reminder for allowing uninterrupted conversation. However, Internet is a great substitute and offers more advantages than disadvantages, admittedly so. With your experience, a workshop would be a wonderful experience in learning and real-timing our online and on campus classroom management techniques. 

Again, thank you!

Hello, Cherri!

I agree that an in-person conflict management or conflict resolution process seems to function much better than online even with our current advanced technology which tends to be less personal. Setting up a room is also a vital part of the process, and very small nuances can make quite a difference to the parties although they may not be consciously aware of it

I am wondering if it might be possible to approach GCU with this workshop, and if so, where should we begin?

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi, Mary Ann, 

Well, I sure do not know the answer to "who," but I will make a few calls and find out. ;)

Hi Mary Ann,

The area of conflict in the online environment can arise in different situations. It can occur between instructor and student, and student and student. For example, a student might not agree on a grade or a process regarding the structure of the class. Students might experience conflict with their peers in a group project related to the allocation of responsibilities. Many times conflict can arise from misunderstandings. Therefore, when conflict does arise, it is important to identify its root cause. This helps establish a direction to resolve the conflict before it escalates to higher levels of intensity.

Hi, Cherri,

That would be wonderful if you would do that!

Please feel free to contact me via my GCU email even after the conclusion of our discussion forum.

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Chris,

Your comments are so very relevant to our discussions on this forum.

It has been my experience that miscommunication, errors in communication, and/or a lack of communication contribute to conflict arising in the online classroom environment.

In my online classes that have CLC assignments, I post an announcement at the beginning of the course explaining that these group assignments are a team effort, so that consistent communication and collaboration among the team members is vital because it reflects upon their willingness to cooperate with each other as well as ultimately the creation of a quality end product (assignment).

Best regards,

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone,

I would like to thank all of you who have participated in this discussion forum during the month of July.

Best regards,

Mary Ann