How Students Face Challenges While Concentrating On Studies

WRITTEN BY FATEHAN ALWAAZKHAN ZAHIDKHAN CLASS OF 2028

This article discusses the critical issue of student concentration, particularly among university students, and its impact on learning quality. It highlights that lower concentration levels hinder lecturers' motivation and effectiveness in teaching, preventing students from achieving their expected outcomes. The article aims to identify various interruptions faced by undergraduate students during lectures and examines the role of teachers in addressing these challenges. By analysing these factors, the article proposes practical solutions to enhance teaching and learning quality in university settings, ultimately benefiting both educators and students.

Introduction

Concentration is the ability to focus your mind and senses on one specific thing. According to Kumar, it's a skill that can be developed. Essentially, concentration allows us to stay engaged and process information effectively. As Kumar states, concentration is something that can be acquired; it refers to the mental state where all the senses and mind of the human are directed towards a specific thing. Attention can also be regarded as a process that encodes language input, keeps it active in working and short-term memory, and retrieves it from long-term memory"

IMPORTANCE OF CONCENTRATION.

Teachers always demand concentration from the learners in a classroom setting. The importance of attention in the learning experience of students is largely paradoxical. According to Al'Omairi and Al Balushi, learning is a critical process of attention.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT CONCENTRATION OF STUDENTS.

There are many factors all having a positive or negative reflection on student concentration. The two most important things are internal and external factors influencing ones' attention to concentration. However, internal factors were those within the student or lecturer himself. For instance. boredom is such an internal factor, as it is a feeling brought from within oneself; it is self-created emotion. Internal factors usually can be manipulated and changed. Other factors are exogenous, i.e., outside of lectures or the possibility of students to manage. e.g., noise when a plane takes off.

INTERNAL FACTORS

Some of the main factor that affects are

·         Mental Health- Anxiety, depression, and stress can hinder focus and attention.

·         Motivation- A student's intrinsic motivation to learn can enhance concentration, while lack of interest can diminish it.

·         Nutrition- A balanced diet supports cognitive function, while poor nutrition can lead to decreased concentration.

·         Sleep Quality - Adequate and quality sleep is crucial for maintaining focus and cognitive performance.

·         Learning Style- Individual learning preferences (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) can impact how well students concentrate on tasks.

·         Self-Regulation- The ability to manage one's time and behaviours affects concentration. Poor self regulation may lead to distractions.

·         Emotional State- Positive emotions can enhance concentration, while negative emotions may impede it.

EXTERNAL FACTORS

While internal factors can be managed or changed, external factors are normally uncontrollable. They can be understood as objective factors around both instructors and students and greatly affect their performance during lesson time. Some of the main factors are:

·         Environment- Disturbance due to loud noise can affect the concentration of students not only noise but sometimes light also affects if there is low light it can affect eyes due to which our concentration affects.

·         Technology- Due to smartphones, social media and other digital device affect our concentration

·         Parents- Due to parent’s students sometimes get stress which affects their concentration. Parents compare their kids with other, they pressure them due to which sometimes students get distracted and always think | am not good and get demotivate and their concentration level decreases from the study.

·         Health- When the students are ill they can’t concentrate on the study. So students should physically fit so they can concentrate.

SOLUTIONS

 Once one acknowledges all the possible distractions from both inside and outside. it would be much easier to look for solutions that can minimize negative influences and maximize students’ interest and understanding by using various necessary teaching strategies to take full advantage of students' lengthened attention span.

 INCREASING STUDENTS' INTEREST

There are many reasons behind the decreasing learning’s motivation for students, but the most affecting reasons are students' lack of enthusiasm in the lesson. It is pivotal that instructors help them set up the correct learning aim, which means students have good consciousness of their learning.

TEACHING STUDENTS APPROPRIATE LEVEL ACCORDING TO THEIR COMPETENCY

Students’ level should always be the basis for any lesson plans made by instructors. The level of content of the lesson should not be higher or lower than students’ competency since it will easily demotivate students and make them lose their excitement for the class.

GIVING CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS

All the instructions in class should be presented in a way that all the students in the class can understand. Instructors should also try to be on the students' level by using appropriate language level, presenting speed, and gestures to aid students understanding.

USING A VARIETY OF TEACHING METHODS AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Instructors should avoid repeating the same teaching strategies in class. So, in order to maintain students’ focus on class, lessons should be conducted in “a variety of auditory, visual, and kinaesthetic techniques” ,

DEVELOP A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILY

Many instructors now have a good connection with students’ family, which will help them easily inform students’ learning process with the parents.

CONCLUSION

Maintaining student's focus is both a challenge and a motivation for teachers to change themselves if needed for the better. Even though countless factors can affect students’ ability to keep their focus well, there are also solutions. Solutions have given above maybe not the best to deal with all the distractions, especially the uncontrollable ones, yet they can be one of the ways for instructors to minimize as much as possible the negative effects and maximize students’ attention span.