TITLE: The Effects of Instructors’ Pedagogical Approach to the Attention Span of UC COA Students

1. The Rationale and Background

1.1 Introduction

How long can a student stay focused in class? It is not unusual for a student’s mind to

wander when he/she should be focusing on class discussion or any class activities. Any student

can relate on this matter specially college or university students who spend a lot of time

studying. According to Briggs (2014), some psychologists claim that the typical student’s

attention span is about 10 to 15 minutes long, yet most university classes last 50 to 90 minutes.

Thus, it’s natural for students’ attention levels to vary according to motivation, mood, perceived

relevance of the material and other factors. These factors even affect students’ attention span.

Here in the Philippines, most of the students spend almost 8 consecutive class hours which lead

to lesser attention span of students. The obvious explanation of this is due to information

ovelrload as well as ineffective pedagogy of instructors/proffessors.

Most students vividly remember instructors who can catch their attention for a long

period of time. The interest, focus, and attention of students tend to increase when

instructors/professors teach in manners or ways that match their students’ interests and mood.

Learning how to match and catch up with students’ attention and interests is also a challenging

task for instructors nowadays which leads to the study of pedagogy. Pedagogy is the method of

practice teaching which encompasses teaching styles, teaching theories, feedback and

assessment. The pedagogical approaches introduced vary from one group of students to another.

This is the reason why the study of pedagogy by every instructor is essential because this serves

as a linking bridge between the gap of learners and the instructors.

It is very important to bridge gaps specially gaps caused by miscommunication and

misunderstanding. While instructors/professors are busy disseminating information, students are

having a hard time catching the information until they resort to lesser attention span or inattention
at all. In a classroom setting, students are having a hard time in focusing which lead to lesser

understanding of the lesson. Also, instructors are also expecting greater outcomes from students

based from their discussed lesson. This result to either students failing quizes or activities relating

the lesson or instructors repeating the lesson for students’ understanding. Either of the result is

disadvantageous to both party.

1.2 Statement of the problem

This study aims to describe the effects of Pedagogical approaches to the attention span of

UC Accounting students and to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the Pedagogical approaches applied to UC COA students?

2. What are the level of attention span of UC COA students?

3. Is there a significant difference in the instructors’ pedagogical approaches in the

attention span of UC COA students?

4. Is there a significant relationship between pedagogical approaches and attention span

of UC COA students?

4.2 Hypothesis

1. There is a significant relationship between pedagogical approaches

and attention span of UC COA students.

4.3 Significance of the study

This study will be a help to the following benefactors:

Instructors/Professors. The result of this study may serve as guide to

instructors and profesors who aim for effective teaching strategies to help

students better understand the lessons.

Students. This study may also be a help to students to better

understand which approach is effective to them.

4.4 Scope and Delimitation of the study

4.5 Definition of Key Terms