attention span
the short attention span of adults makes keeping a schedule for a class difficult. Are there any tips for keeping the lesson long enough for finishing the lecture without stopping every 12 minutes...
make ocational jokes in your lecture that applies to their every day but with out straying form the subject of your class content.
Finding many young students these days have a very short "interest" span. I found in this segment 3 different time spans...10-12, 10-15, 10-18...and the quiz question as 8-12 for the right answer. I realized every 5 minutes is a good time for a question aimed at the class as a refresher, to recap quickly, or a comical note and or a quick experinced story.
Hi William,
Please do. Glad the information is and will be of help to you.
Gary
This sounds like a good idea, do you mind if I print this off so that I may refer back to it once in a while?
Very funny it might work ill try something like that
reset the clock every 8-10 minutes... tell them you like hairy armpits and unshaven legs... something to throw them off!!!
I watch the students carefully during a lecture. I move around the room while lecturing and if it look's like im starting to lose someone, I change what im doing. Sometimes it may be throwing out a question, make a joke or sometime's I may just create a noise by dropping something. If it still looks like their distracted i'll find a spot to stop and we'll do an activity. Whenever i can, I like to sit in another class and watch how other instructor's present material. I've gotten some real good idea's like that and put them into use.
Raising of your voice ,moving around the room ,and stoping to ask qwestions are all good ways of ataining good attention eye contact I find works sometimes I,ll sit in the middle of the room and get to there level . doesnt work with every class but when it does you can realy feel it
Hi Steve,
You don't have to stop the lecture at 10-15 minutes but offer a pause so the students' brains can relax a bit and then get back to the task at hand. For example, you can move from one part of the classroom/lab without talking. Just take a few steps and go from the left to the right of the room. Those few seconds are enough for the students to look up and then focus back on the subject. Another is to pause after a statement for 5 seconds. We have found that a 5 second pause will also help the students to refocus. In our culture of sound and/or noise the 5 seconds of silence really is effective. Giving handouts where the students have their attention placed on moving the papers throughout the class is another example of "brain rest" that helps get the students back on target. The handouts get the students to move their arms, twist their upper bodies, and use their eyes to look about. This may seem overly simple but all of these things work together to contribute to helping the students take a "mini mind" break and then go on without stopping the lecture. With good visuals and effective lecture delivery methods plus these little diversions your lectures should flow with good results for your students.
Gary
engage the students by asking questions immediately after each segment so that they are alert to the fact that they are not just here to listen but to participate in the lectures. Encourage questions by prompting them to ask. try to include physical activities during your lectures to stimulate interest.
