this can be a difficult situation especially when there are students who work graveyard shifts and then come straight to class. they are living on a few hours of sleep a day between work, school, family, and studying. I try to work with individuals to keep them busy. One thing that works wonders is lecturing for 20 min, hands-on 20 min, computers 20 min.... repeat. Today's students are mainly composed of the new computer generation that keeps them very mentally active. Things change continuously. They need that same action in the classroom. Having students sit in front of a computer for 4.5 hours is not what they are paying for. Those classes fall under "online" courses.
Our job is to teach while class is in session. They have work they must do at home.
