The Research Behind Attention — And What It Means for Teaching

On a recent episode of the HigherEdJobs podcast, co-hosts Andy Hibel and Kelly Cherwin spoke with Dr. Michelle Miller, a professor of psychological sciences at Northern Arizona University, about what it takes for faculty to get and keep students’ attention in a world full of digital, physical, and emotional distractions.

Kelly started with a key question: what can research tell us about how faculty can help students stay focused and engaged in today’s distraction-heavy learning environment, and how does that connect to attention, participation, and long-term learning?

As a cognitive psychologist, Miller explained that her research on attention and memory shows that attention is essential to learning. She described it as “the mind’s first responder” and said, “nothing else interesting is going to happen in our minds unless attention is there.” Without attention, learning does not take place.

Andy said “there’s never been a time where more and more things compete for our attention,” adding that “there is constantly just a choice of messages that you could pick or choose depending on how you feel at that moment,” showing how attention is shaped by immediate reactions and emotions.

Miller agreed. “This isn’t just our students, it is all of us,” she said, and explained that there are “porous boundaries around who can get a hold of me [and what gets through] at any time.” This points to how constant availability through phones, email, and even office hours can make it that much harder to protect attention.

Research supports that challenge. Miller described a study where participants had their phones taken away but could still hear them. The result was not better focus. “All the measures of inattentiveness and distraction [were] through the roof.” Even without using the phone, the awareness of it made it harder to focus.

If Removing Devices Is Not Enough, What Helps?

Miller pointed to research on classroom technology policies. In one study, students were given a choice between laptop and no-laptop sections of the room. When those sections were split front to back, students reported feeling that the setup was unfair and evaluations dropped. When the sections were arranged side by side, that concern went away.

More broadly, she described the research on technology restrictions as “a mixed bag.” Some approaches can lead to small improvements, but students often push back. She suggested being clear about expectations and explaining the reasoning behind them. “Let’s work together, let’s talk about the why of this policy,” she said.

The conversation then moved to what happens during class. Kelly recalled moments as a lecturer where she could see students were distracted and said it could feel like she was up there “talking to [herself].” She asked what instructors can do in those situations and how they should think about setting boundaries around technology use.

Miller said instructors should pause and assess what is happening. She asked, “How much of this is concern for learning, and how much of it is ‘I sat up half the night preparing this lecture, and I’m just seeing these rows of laptop lids?” She added that it helps to separate personal frustration from what is affecting learning, including how students may be distracting themselves or others.

She also pushed back on the idea that attention fades after a set amount of time. The commonly cited “10-minute rule” suggests that students stop paying attention after about 10 minutes of lecture and that instructors need to change activities at that point. Miller said that is not how attention works. “Our ability to pay attention in any given situation is not a fixed number,” she said, adding that focus “really depends on what you’re doing.”

Attention, she said, depends on what students are asked to do. She emphasized shifting from delivering information to having students respond and engage with the material. This can include building in moments where students apply concepts during class, rather than waiting to work through them later, and adjusting the pace when attention starts to drop.

Kelly shared a similar example from a training, noting that she would have “zoned out” if she only had to listen, but being required to respond kept her engaged.

Miller said this approach also supports learning beyond the moment. “What do we know promotes memory for the course material? Actually having to use it and think about it.”

Building moments where students apply or respond to material during class can help keep them engaged and support learning. In that sense, attention becomes less about limits and more about how a class is structured and designed.

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