I am a big fan of moving towards them. Our class is usually set up in rows that are wide enough to walk between. Most of the time students will begin to pay attention the closer you get to them. I also limit the amount of straight "lecture" time I have in class. If I ask questions and try to stimulate dicsussion, then the students stay more engaged.
Hi John,
I like to get everyone involved in the question/answer session. I do not want any student to feel left out.
Patricia
Hi James,
Yes, I do the same thing. It works well. I also make it a point daily to call upon students to summarize what was learned from the lesson.
Patricia
Finding ways to engage students as a whole and individually. Mastering your topics and excelling in professionalism. Be a leader and a role model. Manage and balance education and hands-on training.
Hi Stephen,
Asking inattentive students questions is a good way to reel them in to focus. Students do pay better attention if is a topic they are interested in.
Patricia
Hi John,
Applicable stories add great flavor to capture attention. Students get great excitement from stories.
Patricia
Hi Tracy,
I make it a point daily to call on every student. Once students get use to that pattern, they really begin to focus because they know they will be called upon.
Patricia
Sometimes I call upon the student that appears to not be paying attention. In some cases they can answer the question and in some cases, they cannot. This keeps the student and others focused in case they have a question posited to them.
I also call on those students at time just as a way to remind them that they are expected to participate and remain attentive.
I personally like to engage students in group work assignments and exercises because I find that the inattentive students are forced to participate more with their peers than to engage with an instructor.
Nicely stated Ms. DeWitt. I am in concert with dynamic movement around the classroom. But more than that, I like the technique of stating that you will call upon everyone and then doing so. I think that along with the accountability that you are building your are also establishing a type of behavioral change amongst the students. This way each class period they are going to be expecting your to call upon them, so they must prepare.
There are a few ways that an instructor can capture the attention of inattentive students.
First, let them know that you will be calling on them to recall information or answer questions during the lecture/demo. Be sure to mention that you will call on everyone at least once during the lecture. Then don't forget to follow through with your promise to call on everyone, so you have created accountability. Don't miss anyone.
This may force students to take notes or reflect on the content more completely, so they can be prepared to be called on.
Secondly, use movement. If they are not paying attention, walk closer to their table, use body language to draw their eyes to you. AND then once you have their attention, try to draw them into the conversation and make the topic relevant to their goals.
Next, show your passion, use humor, be active and not static. Create an exciting dynamic presentation for the material you have to present. No one likes a boring lecture. I like to use song and dance to get my point across sometimes, I will make up tunes that use the material for lyrics and use some catchy tune that's easy to remember.
The module teaches us that breaking the class into small groups can help bring an inactive student into the discussion/lesson. This is a great idea for smaller groups less than 20, however this can be difficult in a large class size of 30 or more because the noise level can become loud and the ability to manage so many groups while keep the conversation directed can become challenging.
Of course the stories must have something to do with the field they have chosen. When done the right way stories could start some good feed back from several students. This could be an opening for the instructor to blend a lesson into the conversations.
I find that sometimes if you put an inattentive student temporarily in the role of instructor for a project, it obliges them to become involved in the curriculum more. They have to do research and cogitate on how they are going to present the work to the rest of the students. This allows them to garner new (or more data) and to see the perspective of the instructor. This appears to give them a perspective through the lens of the instructor, thus allowing them to see what the effect of others in their former position cause on the class. When they return to their position as students, often they castigate and manage those that are not attentive. This process allows the students to police their own and enhance the learning process.
Hi John,
Stories are good for students. Students open up after being told stories. Stories are a great way to capture students attention.
Patricia
Hi Anthony,
Review time is certainly a way to capture attention. Students tend to really be more alert during review time; students want to know if they understand the concepts that were taught.
Patricia
i like to use as much active learning as possible and try to engage students one on one while they are working
At the very least, I can engage inattentive students by asking them questions about the lecture or presentation. However, I would like to effect a more educational, ling term solution, which would involve finding some way to make the content relevant enough to that student that they are self-motivated to stay focused. To do that, I must find out enough about the student that I can find some way to relate the content to things that I know the student is interested in.
I believe the best way to capture the attentiveness of all students is to keep your class interesting. I vary how I teach all my classes. I try to do a variety of things such as group projects, going to the computer lab, having debates, talking about current events, etc. I never spend an entire class lecturing. In particular when I lecture, I am always sure to involve the students. I ask students to share life experiences related to the topic or I will give the students some type of mini-project/worksheet. In addition, I am a strong advocate on having guest speakers visit.
I like to use review time as a way of engaging them directley to make sure that they have a grasp of the material and even if correct I will go a little more in depth to then reach others that may have had the same issues with attention
