Washington State University World Class. Face to Face. Campuses WSU Home WSU Search my WSU

Competing With Distractions in the Classroom

From wsuwiki

Jump to: navigation, search

Return to Teaching Resources Menu

Potential distractions in the classroom:

Students doing crossword puzzles; reading the newspaper; sleeping; playing with electronic toys; students arriving to class late; lack of focus at the beginning of class; especially attractive students; social cliques; leaving early; doolding; ringing cell phones, pagers, and computers


Some strategies

A) overarching principles:

  • engage students / use active learning
  • decrease student anonymity / spend time building community and trust
  • apply situational awareness / use context
  • create shared understanding / clarify expectations about class and learning
  • be flexible, responsive / gather feedback from learners
  • create a constructive classroom environment
  • Recognize there will always be some distractions in the classroom
  • Any engagement activity and/or management technique needs to fit the instructors personality and approach to teaching and learning. They must also fit the context of the situation.


B) What to do with distracters:

  • Determine if the distraction is actually detracting from learning from both the instructor and student perspectives
  • Don't take distracting behaviors personally
  • At beginning of the term, set tone; be consistent with how you deal with distracters throughout the semester
  • Include constructive civility guidelines on your syllabus (see resources below)
  • Set clear classroom routines to begin the period, to engage students attention; use sponge or ice breaker activities (see below)
  • Use Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) to assess student engagement and understanding (for example, find out if students are lost)
  • Chunk lectures (15-20 minutes at a stretch max)
  • Spend time building community
  • Follow up with comments or dialog with individual students who are distracting
  • Post/make announcements to help reduce distractors
    • Example: Please place cell phones and pagers on vibrate (or turn off) and mute computer sound


C) Classroom Examples

  • Open the semester with a short survey and/or discussion on what detracts from learning in the classroom
  • Place a reminder about distracters on first slide of presentation and/or on entrances to classroom
  • Conduct a focus activity (ice breaker, sponge activity) to gather classes attention
  • with students flesh out assumptions and expectations about learning and behavior in your class

to use at the beginning of class

  • decreasing anonymity / build community:
    • in groups of 4-8, have students introduce themselves and find one similarity or difference common to all of them. That is shared with the class.
    • use pairwork, small group interaction, and collaborative learning


D) What makes something a distraction?

  • Who is it impacting, and how?

For examples: Many students believe multi-tasking is good, so that checking their email during class may be perceived as efficient. Many people doodle to keep their mind active for listening to a presentation.

Resources

Reducing Incivility in the University/College Classroom, Patrick J. Morrissette. This paper identifies factors contributing to uncivil interactions between students and faculty and provides practical strategies designed to avoid or diffuse student-faculty conflicts. http://www.ucalgary.ca/~iejll/volume5/morrissette.html


Classroom Civility from UCSC. Ways to promote civility in the classroom. http://ic.ucsc.edu/CTE/teaching/tips-civility.html


The change-up: a good pitch to have in your teaching repertoire by Bill McAllister, University of Virginia. Some quick classroom activities to keep students engaged in learning. http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Fall_1997/TC_Fall_1997_Change-Up.htm


Preparing an effective syllabus: current best practices by Slattery and Carlson. College Teaching: Fall 2005. Syllabi can be useful in engaging students and creating a, effective, positive classroom atmosphere. [1]

On the same wave-length? Clarifying course expecatations and goals Clarifying expectations and goals can help prevent disengagement. http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Fall_1999/TC_Fall_1999_Barnett.htm


[2]Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers, 2nd ed.


McKeachie, W. J., & Svinicki, M. (?2006?) McKeachie's Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers, 12th ed.


Knaack, L. 14 Good Ideas from Liesel knaack for using laptops in the classroom

Retrieved from "http://wiki.wsu.edu/wsuwiki/Competing_With_Distractions_in_the_Classroom"
Personal tools