Attention span consideration
Presenting course materials in a way to demonstrate the lesson (and to consider attention span) is critical. Studies show the importance of considering the attention span factor (Mizuno et al., 2011).
Reference
Kei Mizuno, Masaaki Tanaka, Sanae Fukuda, Emi Yamano, Yoshihito Shigihara, Kyoko Imai-Matsumura, Yasuyoshi WatanabeLow (2011). visual information-processing speed and attention are predictors of fatigue in elementary and junior high school students. Behav Brain Funct. 7: 20. Published online 2011 June 14. doi: 10.1186/1744-9081-7-20
PMCID: PMC3126715
Cappriccieo,
Students like a change of pace and variety in their instructional delivery. So the more we can offer both the more engaged they will be as well as the enhancement of learning will occur.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think that is a good idea. I often find my students drifting and continuously look for ways to keep them actively engaged.
Philip,
Change of pace and variety are the elements needed for teaching success. This approach enables the students to reset their brains a bit and then they can refocus on the topic being covered.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I've found that sometimes our lectures are very boring and students begin to let their minds wonder, so I will stop my lecture and pick a student and ask him/her what their favorite time of year is. once they answer my question then I go back to my lecture, I do this just to break it up a little bit. is this a good thing to do or not?
Louise,
Right you are. By "reading" your students you will be able to change the pace of the class or delivery format to keep them engaged throughout the lecture sessions.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Monitoring the attention span during a lecture is crucial to the reception of the topic of the lecture. In order to do this requires an attentive instructor to non-verbal student behavior. Louise Lotte July 3, 2013
