Classes that get longer... and longer...
At my college we have over several years had progressive changes in the length of our classes. We started with 4 hour classes, then a compression of the number of classes total brought our classes to 4.5. Now recently our terms have been shortened by a week with additional time added to bring our classes to almost 5 hour in length. Our night classes actually run as late as 11PM.
We do have almost an hour that can be used as break time throughout the class. However these exceptionally long classes, even with a large chunk of them being dedicated to practical hands on lab time, stretches the limit of both student and instructor endurance and concentration. I sometimes feel at a loss as to how to keep my students focused and engaged as 10:30PM rolls around, especially when I am feeling a bit burned out on the subject myself!
There is no changing the situation, it is here to stay. So I am looking for ways to keep the students engaged and focused for as long as possible. I have done some things like splitting a class into 2 different lessons to at least make the subject matter more interesting with some small success. However, I would welcome any thoughts or suggestions!
Hi Kerstin,
I teach from 4 until 10 p.m. so I understand your situation. What I like to do the last part of the class to keep the energy up and the students engaged is to do quizzing the last half hour. I have different games I have the students play so they can be competitive while reviewing what we have covered during the evening. Since there is movement, talking and speed involved the students look forward to this wrap up of the class.
Gary
Thanks Dr. Meers. I did have classes from 4 to 10 for quite a few years, tough enough, but when it went to 11 I thought my head might explode! LOL! Your suggestion on the quizzing, especially with incorporating a game style format is a great one. Thank you again!
Kerstin
H Kerstin,
I agree with you. I thought 10:00 was bad enough I cannot imagine 11. You are right I think my head would explode if I taught until then. Keep the great attitude and I know you are going to make an impact on the lives of your students even it is at 11 at night.
Gary
Wow! I feel the exact same way. Thank you for sharing. This helps to know that I am not alone. For students and instructors this makes for a very long day. Most students are working and going to school. Most instructors have full time positions in addition to teaching.
I think the quiz idea is great. This will also encourage students not to leave early.
Thanks again!
That is an awesome idea! Quizzing and games, I will try it!
I am in the same situation and you can see the students beginning to yawn in the last hour or so of class late at night. Quizzes, games, and other "active" methods seem like a great idea to keep students engaged and focused in the last half of the long / late classes like these.
-J.
Hi Justin,
You will get them involved through the activities and the time will go quickly for them at the back end of the class. Plus, they will be refreshing their minds on the content that you have just covered.
Gary
I teach keyboarding, which, of course, is a "hands-on" kind of course. I want to make sure the students get what they paid for. I teach one section during the day, 2 hours on Tues and Thurs. The time flies and we have a great time. But the Tuesday night class, althrough "only" 4 hours, really drags. I do save activities and testing for the last hour, and I try introducing new concepts at the beginning of class, but it sure drags in the middle.
Hi Karen,
I teach 4 until 10 pm so I know what you are experiencing. Even with the best of planning and activities it still boils down to tired human beings. So keep the energy up and the activities coming and the students will appreciate it although they may seem worn out.
Gary
I have taught an accounting 2 course for 5 hours on a Saturday 9am to 2pm. What I found to move the class along and keep engaged was to change the pace and presentation throughout the class, ie some time on lecturing new materials, some time on letting students work example problems in class and then reviewing solutions.
The key is varying the activity. Quizzes at end of class would also serve to keep the students on their toes!
Proper spacing of breaks helps as well.
Hi Lucy,
Good strategies for keeping the students engaged and focused on the content over a long period of time. Variety really helps them to retain the material better as well as enjoying the knowledge they are acquiring.
Gary
