Teaching and Scholarship Hub

Why are attention and focus so difficult and so important to effective learning? What is the impact of technology on attention spans? What role can teachers play in facilitating attention and reducing distraction in students? If these questions interest you, we invite you to join a Faculty Hub book talk by Dr. James Lang, author of Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It. Lang, Professor of English and the Director of the D’Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption College is the author of multiple books on teaching, including Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning and Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty. In discussing his most recent book, Lang will describe how the brain continually seeks novelty and how teachers can help students focus on the hard work of gaining new knowledge and understanding. Lang will address some claims about the role of the internet and mobile devices in distraction and will address challenges and solutions we all face in cultivating student attention.

To learn more, please see a series of articles by Lang in the Chronicle of Higher Education that cover some of the topics from his book.

The Faculty Hub will also have a follow-up session on Friday, February 19 from 9-9:45 a.m. to continue the discussion about how we can employ some of Lang’s ideas in our teaching. As Lang’s book was written just prior to the COVID-19 related changes, the follow-up session will provide time for discussion of how to facilitate student attention and focus in our new teaching modes. No registration is required for the follow-up session which will use this Zoom link.

The first 40 people to sign up will receive a copy of the book through campus mail. If you are teaching remotely and are unable to come to campus, please indicate this on your registration form and provide your mailing address.

Sign up here to join us for this book talk on Monday, February 15 from 3-4:15 p.m.