Keeping their Attention for 5 hours
Attention span is directly related to the way that the material is presented. It is our job to "feel" how they are recieving our method at any given time and change up to keep every student on board. "Entertainer, comedian, producer and instructor." that was a key point to this module. I am still constantly chasing this, it is somtimes fun and sometimes frustrating in my opinion... but always an interesting challenge for me.
I agree...you need to switch it up. Attention span for adults is only 18 minutes. Keep it interesting!!
I find that after I get a feel for the group I can use humor to wake them up or get their attention .I also like to brake up my lecture with demos of what I just talked about to show the application of the thoery.
Dan Butler Clinic 2
MMI
Hi Janice, what a great suggestion! Having sat in many 3 hour courses in grad school I think back to what kept my classes interesting. I will be teaching a 4 hour course and plan on lots of class dicussion, a DVD relating to the topic of the day, and group projects or games to allow the students to apply what they have learned and to build their self-confidence. Wish me luck. I am a first time teacher.
Thanks, Michael! Your strategy certainly changes the pace and refocuses students. Across the board in this forum, there have been some excellent suggestions from instructors on keeping students engaged in class or lab. I hope everyone visits all of the posts!
Jay Hollowell
MaxKnowledge/CEE
When I see their attention going away, I switch to a quick-fire spot review to open their eyes and their attention. I also used quick group discussions of diagnostics - present them with a condition and have them come up with all of the possibilities that can cause that symptom, then discuss the most probable. once they are "back in the game" continue on with the original lesson.
Moving around the room and making eye contact with everyone can keep their attention as well. We MUST engage the student and keep them engaged.
One of the things they sugguest where I work is to assign readings and break the class into groups via tables or other methods. From the lecture or topic of the next up coming class ask them to be prepaired to have one member of their group do a 3 to 5 minute summary of the materical they pre-read for class. This guarantees student participation and given that most invividuals are not natural public speakers...after they have finished their project there is a good possibility that they will be more receptive to a traditional lecture for a day or more.
Hi Janice,
Glad to hear about your success with using a different approach in helping your students to learn. I know this sharing will be of help to other participants. Keep up the good work.
Gary
I also try to change to a demo method if lecture is too long. Sometimes that is not feasible so I may go to a short break then try a different activity not on my plan. Today I pulled 2 crossword puzzles on the material I had just found during break and when they returned from a 20 minute break it was on their desks- no questions asked, they started working on it without my instruction and started working together- kept them engaged for well over an hour! They started looking up material, splitting up the sections, sharing, discussing and really learning the material in a new format! I was able to join in much later when they asked for some guidance- sorry I hadn't tried it sooner!
The program I teach is designed with 9 six hour lecture days and 6 lab days. We are not allowed to vary from this format. I find it very difficult to keep my students (average age 18-24) involved in the lecture. I use power point, question and answer as well as games. It is a constant battle.
When i sense that i am losing my students, i get them into a demonstration that they can interact with. This works very well,then i try to keep the lecture minimal and focus on more hands on
this is the the hardest thing to do.The students do not take notes or look at their books. Its hard to keep their attention.I try to state change often . A little off subject topic with some shock value works. Then pull it back on track. hand arounds keep hands busy.
Yup. State changes, keeping lecture time short, moving from hands on to note-taking and back. You have to keep it interesting.
I agree with changes in the instructional techniques (delivery methods) during a long day. It will not only attempt to keep students attention, but also will appeal to varying learning styles of the students. This way, you can reach all students with the same information.
I agree. Every day can be different.
It is a bit difficult to keep their attention for a long period of time. I believe that random(to the students) but scheduled breaks allow the students to move around and handle their distractions. The students generally return to the class refreshed and it gives me an opportunity to re organize and try to re direct the lesson so that it may be able to keep their attention with less distraction
to keep the students attention for the entire class time is a big challenge. i try to keep changing from power point to question and answer sessions to lab time and back to power point presentation. If i can keep changing direction, then the students don't lose interest and stay awake. the attention span of most people is short. this is one of the biggest problems with teaching.
