Classroom incivilities

The scattered, little-known literature on classroom disturbances depicts their aversive nature and growing costs, but rarely in higher education. Here I summarize a five-year study of classroom incivilities (CI) at a large research university. In systematic observations of large survey courses, I ranked the most problematic CI as (1) teachers displaying aloof, distancing mannerisms; (2) teachers discouraging student involvement with fast-paced lectures; (3) students' noisiness and indifference; (4) students coming late and leaving early; (5) students' sarcastic remarks/gestures; and so on. High levels of CI corresponded to low levels of student attentiveness and note-taking-and to low levels of teacher enthusiasm, clarity/organization, and immediacies (i.e., expressions of warmth and approachability). High CI meant fast-paced lectures, student confusion/annoyance, and perceptions of teachers as uncaring and incompetent. The key initiator of CI may be teachers' deficits in immediacies, particularly during the first few days of classes. Immediacy was coached here with demonstrable reductions in CI.