I delivered two lectures to the undergrads back to back the other day. One was my scheduled lecture, and the other was for a colleague who had to be elsewhere unexpectedly and there was no one else to deliver a lecture in that time slot. I did not want to lose the slot, because their education had to be completed as per scheduled plan. I tried my best to keep them awake, and entertained them with anecdotes, while continuing to impart education. But I started losing them during the second lecture. After all, there is only so much that a human mind can take. Two of them yawned independently within ten seconds of each other.
"There are two types of yawns. One is the infectious type, in which a person yawns when he/she sees someone else yawn. The other is noninfectious yawn. Just now that guy there yawned. In less than 10 seconds, that girl yawned. But she could not have seen him yawn. She is sitting in a row ahead of him. So these were the noninfectious type of yawns. The only reason for these yawns, I can see, is my lecture."
They laughed. I could teach them some more before they started losing interest again. I had to grab their attention again. So I started with a story, which had to do with a goal before starting out in life. I thought of it in connection with something that happened in class at that moment.
"I will tell you how I reached where I am now" I said. I won't tell the story here, because it will make this post too long. Perhaps some other time. Halfway through the story, I realized that they were listening with rapt attention, like people do when they watching some soap on the TV. Perhaps they thought they would hear something worth gossiping. I completed the story, advised them to fix their goals and went back to teaching. Within ten seconds they went back to their whisperings, texting and not paying any attention.
So I can say that it easy to grab their attention with anecdotes, but very difficult to keep it if you go back to teaching.
"There are two types of yawns. One is the infectious type, in which a person yawns when he/she sees someone else yawn. The other is noninfectious yawn. Just now that guy there yawned. In less than 10 seconds, that girl yawned. But she could not have seen him yawn. She is sitting in a row ahead of him. So these were the noninfectious type of yawns. The only reason for these yawns, I can see, is my lecture."
They laughed. I could teach them some more before they started losing interest again. I had to grab their attention again. So I started with a story, which had to do with a goal before starting out in life. I thought of it in connection with something that happened in class at that moment.
"I will tell you how I reached where I am now" I said. I won't tell the story here, because it will make this post too long. Perhaps some other time. Halfway through the story, I realized that they were listening with rapt attention, like people do when they watching some soap on the TV. Perhaps they thought they would hear something worth gossiping. I completed the story, advised them to fix their goals and went back to teaching. Within ten seconds they went back to their whisperings, texting and not paying any attention.
So I can say that it easy to grab their attention with anecdotes, but very difficult to keep it if you go back to teaching.
