I break the class into small groups with a problem solving situation. Something like: What improvements in the student lounge can be made?
Make sure that your lecture is fully prepared as to topic, presentation skills, use of multimedia, guest speaker, class activities or discussion groups. All of which can motivate students to be interested in the topic and fully participate.
Role play situations can be an extremely valuable teaching tool. Be sure that the role play group has a problem to solve or a dilemma to discuss. Additionally, having the class respond to the role play scenario after it is over is also useful.
Hi Derrick,
What type of interactive learning do you utilize in the courses you teach? It is certainly a great way for involvement.
Patricia
I try and link up the lectures with their possible job responsibilities in the future.
Interactive learning is a great tool to get all learners involved.
I bring in traing aids and have the clas come up front a few at a time to engage what I am doing
Good point Timothy. One another way keeping students focused is building bridge between previous class and current class. I try to do that at the beginning of rach class so t5eh student do not get lost between classes.
Hi Anna,
Interactive learning is good for everyone. I can certainly see how the inattentive student can benefit from this type of exposure.
Patricia
Hi Cemal,
How do you feel creating small discussion gropus help with capturing students attention?
Patricia
I agree, sometimes students just think you are pontificating and they don’t really care so they just block you out. I have one student complain that I talked about my own personal life too much and my work experience. She did not understand how this was going to help her learn anything. I guess she missed the part of the class that talked about “real life experiences†and how they affect the learner.
Cemal this is a very good idea. I tried it a couple of times and it seems to bring individuals/students out of their shells.
I like the idea of adding guest speakers to my classrooms, and have tried it a time or two. However, in an online setting, it makes it difficult because you never know if you will have students show up for the classes or not. I invited a guest speaker one time, prepped him for the weekly topic, and when he logged on to the online classroom with me, there were no students present, and none showed up for the whole hour.
I have taken students on virtual field trips thou, and found these go a long way to keep a student motivated. Depending upon the subject you are teaching, virtual field trips and be very enlightening. I give the students a link, and then ask them to go to the link, look for specific things, then in a predetermined time I have them come back to the classroom to discuss their findings. This can be quite fun in a history class, an art class and even in a management class. I am confident this method can be adapted to fit any class taught. It just might take extra research on the part of the instructor.
To capture a student’s attention, you have to make the learning fun and exciting for them as well as yourself. Even an instructor needs to be motivated as time goes on. I try to keep the conversation moving forward and I make an effort to not always call on the same students. When I am lecturing, I try to think about what the student is hearing, and I continue to ask questions such as Carol, does this make sense to you, or Thomas, how do you think they felt when they discovered the new cure?
Student’s need to know that you have a vested interest in their learning and helping them learn as much as possible. However, in the same respect, they have to know that in college, they are held to a higher standard than they were in high school.
We all know that moving from high school to college can be quite a daunting task for students, and in many cases, students are not emotionally prepared or academically prepared. They are not yet ready to shift from the instructor being there for their every move to them being responsible for getting up and going to class and getting their own homework done.
I always add a reminder in my online classrooms the day before an assignment is due. I add the assignment requirements, the due date, the point values, and where they can find the grading rubric for this particular assignment. Should the reminder be added sooner than just the day before the assignment is due? I don’t feel it should be since they already have a calendar of the whole class presented at the first of the session. However, I do ask myself, is this single reminder enough to capture the attention of the student who waits until the last minute to complete his/her homework, or will this late reminder encourage a student who has fallen behind to work a little bit harder.
I would create small discussion groups.
Ask him what is great at?
I take 5 o 6 board markers to the classroom and ask the student to pick that one that he want me to use for that day.
get on a chair next to him and start the lecture from there it really works!
One way you can capture the attention of inattentive students is by creating student groups to brainstorm ideas among the different student types. This allows the inattentive student to become engaged by changing the delivery and making the learning process interactive.
Understanding your student dynamics is crucial. We already know the different styles of learning, but what drives them to pay attention. For this I look to media. The form, style and delivery of advertisements are based on the type of customer demographics they are trying to reach.
By altering your delivery style to include some of these methods would increase attentiveness.
Now I'm not saying that we should reduce everything down to a 13", or even 4.5" screen, although that does bear some note. What I am reffering to is the use of music, art forms ( dance, theater) for delivering course content would be unique, different- and that alone would catch their attention. Maybe even writing in "text" format would eb something they wouldn't expect. Using current upto date terminology shows them that you are taking an active interest in meeting them halfway- and show that you are willing to communicate.
