Students' and Professors' Perception of Occurrence and Disturbance of Disruptive Classroom Behaviors

Disruptive behavior could be defined as the behavior that interrupts the educational process and causes stress to teachers or other students. In this research an anonymous questionnaire containing 30 disruptive behaviors was given to a group of students (N=251) and professors (N=49) at the University of Applied Sciences VERN' (Zagreb, Croatia). Participants had to appraise: a) to what extent those behaviors occur in the classroom and b) how disturbing they are. Results have shown that disruptive behaviors occur to a moderate extent in general as well as that there are no significant differences in the perception of their occurrence among participants. However, professors find these behaviors significantly more disturbing. Within participant groups some gender and age differences were also found. Younger students and younger professors notice more disruptive behaviors. Furthermore, female students and female professors find these behaviors more disturbing, while female students also notice them more. Results and practical implications are discussed in relation to previous research. (C) 2016 Published by Future Academy www. FutureAcademy. org. uk