How often have you slept through a lecture? How often has your mind wandered off in a lecture?

In a lecture, the speaker determines the aims, content, organisation, pace and direction of a presentation. It places listeners in a passive rather than an active role, which hinders learning. Unless the speaker uses some effort to keep the listeners engaged, like asking/inviting questions or giving short breaks, listeners cannot pay attention to the whole lecture. That’s why we promote active learning methods.

Some students depend upon the structure provided by such highly teacher-centered methods, but it requires a considerable amount of student time outside the classroom to enable understanding and remembering content.

Though this is almost the only way to disseminate information to a large audience, the lecturer must make a conscious effort to become aware of student problems and student understanding of content without verbal feedback. Lecturers must also have good writing and speaking skills. But the most challenging part for a student is how not to fall asleep in a lecture or how not let your mind get distracted.
Twenty minutes into the class, your vision starts blurring, your eyelids feel heavy and droopy, and then your neck refuses to hold your head up. Before you realise, you are asleep. Some people even snore!

SLEEP: Well, the most obvious reason for sleeping in class is because you are sleep-deprived. If you don’t get enough sleep (this may vary from six to nine hours per day for different persons) or if the quality of sleep is not good then you are likely to sleep in class. Try to finish your work early and get yourself a good night’s sleep. If this was missed for some reason, take a ‘power nap’ in the afternoon. Power nap is a 20-minute (more than this will make your body sluggish and will be counter productive) sleep that makes you refreshed. For this you should look for a calm place to sit or lie down and set an alarm to go off after 20 minutes. If you are not the type who can fall asleep immediately after lying down, then a meditation may be a better idea. Once your body gets used to these short power naps or meditative sessions, it will be easier to do it everyday.

DIET AND EXERCISE: Eat a good breakfast. Sometimes, you feel sleepy because of lack of energy. So pack your breakfast with proteins, milk and fruits (and not purees and dosas) so you remain energetic for longer periods. In general, maintaining a good diet and exercising in the right amount will keep you active. When you exhaust yourself physically also you will feel sleepy.

WRITE: Write down what the speaker is saying – this is the best method to remain awake in a lecture. If possible, write in your own words. This writing and thinking process will keep you actively engaged in class. TALK: Ask or answer questions – participate in the class. Of course, if the speaker doesn’t like interruptions or if you don’t know the answers to his/her questions, then this trick won’t help.

CHEW: Keep a cough drop, chewing gum or peppermint in your mouth. Don’t chew it or make it obvious – that may be bad manners or may show disrespect to the speaker.

SHIFT: Some people like to shift, sit straight or swing their legs to keep themselves awake.

If none of this works and if you are really tired and sleepy the best way is to skip the class,rather than make a fool of yourself and the lecturer!

(The author is Instructional Consultant and Teacher Educator. For more tips visit www.inspiring-teachers.com.