A big part of STEM education is getting students to apply science, math, engineering, and technology concepts to actual problem-solving activities. STEM projects, like robot building and mini hackathons, can foster an engaged classroom through the more active and collaborative nature of these exercises.
But activities and experiments can be time and resource intensive. They also don’t work for every lesson and subject, whether within or apart from STEM fields. In these cases, getting students to engage and pay attention in class can be a constant challenge for any educator.
Why is lack of attention in class such a common problem? Is there anything that can be done to get more students paying attention and engaging with their lessons?
What Prevents Students From Paying Attention?
Statistics for the average attention span by age usually show that the older one gets, the more their capacity for paying attention increases. For example, a preschooler will be able to focus for 6 to 12 minutes, which gradually increases to 30 to 50 minutes by the time they reach high school.
