Capturing the attention of your student requires you being observant to the needs of your class to know if they are interested or not in the course, so you can get there attention by calling on them to help you to go over the information of the lecture. And to get them to think about certain scenarios.
When I spot a student drifting away from the subject at hand. I will ask that student what their thoughts are on the subject. If the students response is indicating the topic wasn't understood or not listened to. I will ask a few others if they agree with the student. This will usually get a discussion going about the subject and the student who drifted away will get caught up with the rest of the class without losing face.
Sometimes it is difficult to always keep the attention of every student. The strategies that I use are: walking around the room, asking them questions about the lecture, and breaking them into small groups. This gives me the opportunity to see what they are understanding and to speak with them on an individual level.
One of the methods I already employ is to walk around the class during lecture. It causes the students to stay focused on me and watch my body language as I speak. I also try to modulate my tone of voice at times to try and keep the students additionally engaged.
I try to engage the student in a one-on-one conversation and give them a specific task with an end result goal to strive for. Also I've used a group setting by breaking up the class into small groups and the group will often encourage the inattentive student to pay attention as their grade is given as a group based on their assignment completion.
I always apply a real life appoach to my lectures to show students how the class content relates to the future in the work field
Hi Daniel,
We all learn in different ways. I agree it is important to learn as much about the student as possible to determine how they best learn. We are here for the students, and we should do everything possible to help the student become successful.
Patricia
Patricia,
I try to use plenty of visual aids. In my experience, grpahics and sounds capture the students at that critical point in the lesson. Other ways are to change the dynamic by enaging in less formal methods. since I deal with Adult Learners, most want to be there so making it more fun or interesting (at times) makes learning easier and more enjoyable. It doesnn't have to be painful to be educational.
Greg
I think it is critical to seek out the goals of the student and stress the importance of the material understanding to their overall success. One on one meeting can help add understanding and relevance to the instructor and learner. Simply put, I try to learn as much as I can about the learner to insure relevance to me and the individual learner.
Making learning fun and interesting. Instructors need to constantly think of ways of presenting the information to their stduents that will not only spark their interest but will make students see the relevance of the information. Sticking to one method of presenting the information will lead to a decreased level of interest and motivation.
We have cameras in our labs and while i'm doing the demo i'll give the remotte to a student to keep the camera on me (it seems to work well with the sleepy or ADD students)
inattentive students must be drawn into the conversation. Asking a student what they think about the topic helps to impress upon the student that they are noticed by the instructor. Using the students name when addressing them makes it personal. Communication with students before the class begins sets the stage of respect between instructor and student. This conversation increases attentiveness.
I feel that when you have an unattentive student you need to find out about that student. Have a discussing with them about the class but about their goals and objectives also. Find out wht they are interested and how they learn best and then adapt your teaching style to include them.
One way to capture the attention of an inattentive student is to find a quality trait within them. When the instructor finds that trait they can exploit the student’s interests and motivate them to success.
I like to engage them in relating an experience they had with the topic of the course.
I have found that assigning inattentive students a responsibility position within the class forces them to get involved. Once they realize that they are accountable to the class/group, their attitude changes.
I recall past examples of students or situations sometimes (as a motivational device). Also, I like to explain how the given assignment/project connects to situations in the real job world. I will phrase the key activities as simulating "real-world" application.
During the first day of class, I assign reading assignments and summary responsibilities to each student pertaining to the subject matter and they have to stand up and present a brief summary on the readings assigned. The student then can select another student to continue on the topic at hand or I select students who are not paying attention as to show that their participation is required and mandatory. I explain that their grades are subject to class participation as well. Students who are not prepared or have not participated will see that their grades are affected because every week I provide a grade for their participation.
~Louis
I like to call on them frequently and engage them in some way. If they continue to say "I don't know" over and over, I will remind the class that being unprepared for class is a bad habit to develop as they are looking forward to their new career.
By actively engaging them and helping them see the relevancy of the course material.
