FTLC keynote speaker calls for faculty to be innovative in helping students, themselves improve attention skills

The constant push and pull of our brains creates havoc on a person's attention span. But how can faculty, as the "directors of attention" in a classroom help students pay attention?

James Lang, author and educator, was the keynote speaker during the 29th annual Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center Fall Conference August 23 at the Eberhard Center. Lang discussed the science behind distraction, adding faculty members do more than teach students when in a classroom.

"The essential task of a teacher is to orient students to a task," Lang said. "Teachers identify the places where students should pay the most attention. You are the directors of attention."

Lang said he and other researchers have recognized the conflict in the brain between goal pursuits, such as pursuing a four-year degree, and attentional resources.

"Your cognitive abilities have not evolved to the same level as your goal-setting abilities," he said. "This is the brain's pull into distractions and the push of directed attention fatigue."

Provost Fatma Mili introduced Lang and said she had several takeaways from his recent book, "What You Can Do About It, Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, and Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty."

Mili called it a privilege for some people to sit for long periods of time, reading or focusing on a problem.

"What's the socioeconomic privilege here? Students who can sit for a long time do not have to work or take care of siblings," Mili said. "In the classroom, this may be the only place they can sit without distractions."

Tips to improve attention

Lang offered tips for faculty to help students deepen their attention skills. For example, he gives students blue books at the start of a semester and asks them to end each class by writing something from the class that was relevant to another class or relevant to their jobs. Another tip: Set a timer for 30 minutes and ask students to only write during that period, or only read.