Explore potential strategies. Students are bored because they
are not actively engaged in the lecture, which requires fifty
minutes of focused attention. The typical attention span for
most students is between ten and twenty minutes. This argues for
planning your lecture in chunks of fifteen to twenty minutes,
using varied activities to re-engage students’ attention, e.g.,
pose a question, use visuals, conduct a demonstration, break
into groups, show a portion of a video, use the classroom
response system. Begin the lecture by posing a challenging
question or providing an intriguing anecdote, etc., that will
pique students’ interest and motivate their attention for the
next fifty minutes. Don’t underestimate the impact of your own
enthusiasm and excitement for the subject. Demonstrate your
passion, for example, by sharing stories from your own
experience, because in this venue people’s voice and body
language naturally convey their excitement for their discipline.
This site supplements our 1-on-1 teaching con