Winter 2021: Distracted

This winter in Journal Club we will read a book: Distracted: Why students can’t focus and what you can do about it, by James M. Lang. We are all struggling to maintain focus as we teach, learn, and work remotely and online. Lang’s book, while not explicitly written for the online context, has a great deal of information and advice relevant to our current situation. The first part of the book discusses distraction: its origins, effects, and ways people try to control it in the classroom. Part two encourages us to reduce distraction by designing our lessons and courses to cultivate student attention and presents a variety of strategies for accomplishing this goal. Lang draws on peer-reviewed literature and includes examples of how instructors incorporate the results in their teaching; where relevant, he also includes “Quick Take” sections with recommendations for faculty. The book is a pleasure to read and will provide instructors with a variety of ways to improve their courses, whether they are taught remotely, online, or face-to-face. We look forward to exploring these topics with you, so please join us!

Lang, J. M. (2020). Distracted: Why students can’t focus and what you can do about it. Basic Books. Hard copies of the book are available through online booksellers, and the UO Library has it in ebook form.

Making time to talk about teaching has become more important than ever as our opportunities for spontaneous conversations in hallways are temporarily on hold. The Science Teaching Journal Club provides a friendly, collegial gathering place for participants from all ranks and disciplines; we invite you to join us at our weekly meetings, which feature lively, structured discussions of the readings. Feel free to participate in the whole series or just drop in for a specific conversation.