For many students concentrating through to the end of a lecture is demanding. You usually have a pattern of up to 20 minutes of engagement followed by a steady decline of attention. It has been recognised the approximate attention span ranges from 10 to 18 minutes. This would question why lectures are often over an hour and sometimes up to 3 hours. However, towards the end of the lecture attention would return, but in spurts of 4-5 minutes Also it has been stated regardless of the drive or enthusiasm of an individual or the quality of the lecturer at hand an individual would not be able to retain the amount of information delivered within that lecture. Middendorf & Kalish, 1994 stated, delivering a lecturer does not necessarily mean learning. For learning to take place individuals need to interact and engage with the material for them to retain it, also adding the need to add activities. This suggests even though many lecturers are delivered this does not necessarily mean that they deliver of what is required from them, suggesting the students do not learn.
The study also suggests lectures should include lecture breaks up; it is believed such inclusions creates more frequent cycles of attention and focus and so can retain more information. One of the ways in which this could be achieved is through moving around or doing a very short exercise lasting a few minutes, which would refresh the student’s attention. For this to happen prior arrangements need to be made such as lecture venue so the task is feasible and is actually effective rather than a distraction and time consuming. Burns (1985) also found material delivered at the beginning and at the end of the lecture was retained and so highlighting the attention span phenomenon of at the beginning of the lecture and periodic spurts of attention through the lecture.
Although there are many reasons why such lectures are delivered with respect to amount of material needed to be delivered within a time constrain, number of students and teaching facilities available, there are ways in which improving the concentration span can be targeted. By targeting other factors that could help with concentration. For an instance Finn, Pannozzo and Achilles (2003) showed smaller classes encouraged engagement and more interaction, and seeing that learning is brought by interaction and engagement with the material such adjustments can aid the delivery of the lecture where the length of the lecture would not be as compromising to the teaching and learning process. Another statement by Middendorf et al., 1990 where he suggests in delivering less information approach rather than over loading with too much information. It is recognised by delivering less information the lecturer can cover the topic in much more depth, this approach is recognised to have a longer lasting experience instead of quickly covering the material. Although there are ways by which factors such as attention span that is greatly affected during long lectures there are ways in which the effectiveness of the lecturing can be adjusted such that the long hours do not hinder as greatly. Lecture design could help in the teaching and learning difficulties as a result for the long The question is if you know the content and the duration of the lecture is going to surpass the threshold of any individuals ability to retain the information why go ahead and still deliver the lecture? Is there any reason, which justifies this approach of teaching and learning?
References:
Burns, R. A., (1985). Information Impact and Factors Affecting Recall. Presented at Annual National Conference on Teaching Excellence and Conference of Administrators, Austin, TX, and May 22-25, 1985. (ERIC Document No. ED 258 639)
Finn, J.D., Pannozzo, G.M., and Achiles, C.M. (2003) The ‘why’s’ of class size: student behaviour in small classes. Review of Educational Research, 73,3,321-368
Middendorf, J. & Kalish, A. (1994) Discussion Techniques (Workshop 3). Revised edition. Bloomington: IU Teaching Resources Center. Middendorf, J., Ferris, L., Ryan, D. & Bednar, A. (1990). Idea Tree: A Growing Collection from IU’s Excellent Teachers. Bloomington: IU Learning Resources.
For many students concentrating through to the end of a lecture is demanding. You usually have a pattern of up to 20 minutes of engagement followed by a steady decline of attention. It has been recognised the approximate attention span ranges from 10 to 18 minutes. This would question why lectures are often over an hour and sometimes up to 3 hours. However, towards the end of the lecture attention would return, but in spurts of 4-5 minutes
Also it has been stated regardless of the drive or enthusiasm of an individual or the quality of the lecturer at hand an individual would not be able to retain the amount of information delivered within that lecture. Middendorf & Kalish, 1994 stated, delivering a lecturer does not necessarily mean learning. For learning to take place individuals need to interact and engage with the material for them to retain it, also adding the need to add activities. This suggests even though many lecturers are delivered this does not necessarily mean that they deliver of what is required from them, suggesting the students do not learn.
The study also suggests lectures should include lecture breaks up; it is believed such inclusions creates more frequent cycles of attention and focus and so can retain more information. One of the ways in which this could be achieved is through moving around or doing a very short exercise lasting a few minutes, which would refresh the student’s attention. For this to happen prior arrangements need to be made such as lecture venue so the task is feasible and is actually effective rather than a distraction and time consuming.
Burns (1985) also found material delivered at the beginning and at the end of the lecture was retained and so highlighting the attention span phenomenon of at the beginning of the lecture and periodic spurts of attention through the lecture.
Although there are many reasons why such lectures are delivered with respect to amount of material needed to be delivered within a time constrain, number of students and teaching facilities available, there are ways in which improving the concentration span can be targeted. By targeting other factors that could help with concentration. For an instance Finn, Pannozzo and Achilles (2003) showed smaller classes encouraged engagement and more interaction, and seeing that learning is brought by interaction and engagement with the material such adjustments can aid the delivery of the lecture where the length of the lecture would not be as compromising to the teaching and learning process.
Another statement by Middendorf et al., 1990 where he suggests in delivering less information approach rather than over loading with too much information. It is recognised by delivering less information the lecturer can cover the topic in much more depth, this approach is recognised to have a longer lasting experience instead of quickly covering the material.
Although there are ways by which factors such as attention span that is greatly affected during long lectures there are ways in which the effectiveness of the lecturing can be adjusted such that the long hours do not hinder as greatly. Lecture design could help in the teaching and learning difficulties as a result for the long
The question is if you know the content and the duration of the lecture is going to surpass the threshold of any individuals ability to retain the information why go ahead and still deliver the lecture? Is there any reason, which justifies this approach of teaching and learning?
References:
Burns, R. A., (1985). Information Impact and Factors Affecting Recall. Presented at Annual National Conference on Teaching Excellence and Conference of Administrators, Austin, TX, and May 22-25, 1985. (ERIC Document No. ED 258 639)
Finn, J.D., Pannozzo, G.M., and Achiles, C.M. (2003) The ‘why’s’ of class size: student
behaviour in small classes. Review of Educational Research, 73,3,321-368
Middendorf, J. & Kalish, A. (1994) Discussion Techniques (Workshop 3). Revised edition. Bloomington: IU Teaching Resources Center.
Middendorf, J., Ferris, L., Ryan, D. & Bednar, A. (1990). Idea Tree: A Growing Collection from IU’s Excellent Teachers. Bloomington: IU Learning Resources.