The Attention Gap: What Faculty and Students Can Do About Distraction

This podcast episode continues a previous conversation with Dr. Michelle Miller, professor of psychological sciences at Northern Arizona University, where she and co-hosts Andy Hibel and Kelly Cherwin discuss how attention directly impacts memory and retention, what the research says about social media’s effect on student success, and why managing distraction is a skill that extends beyond the classroom.

What the Research Says About Attention and Memory

Miller started by making one thing clear: attention and memory cannot be separated. The two, she said, are so “tightly linked” that it is nearly impossible to talk about one without the other. Kelly noted that many people struggle to follow audiobooks because their mind wanders. “I’ve heard people say, ‘I can’t listen to them because I get distracted and then I don’t understand it,'” she said.

Miller’s research points to why. “For all practical purposes, basically, if you don’t have focused attention on something, you do not have a memory for it.”

This is especially true in classroom settings, she explained, where students are taking in new information and forming new connections, both of which require focused attention. She pointed to a common misconception she sees in students, what she called the “security camera in the head” theory. Her research documents that many students believe on some level that even if they are not fully tuned in, the brain is still recording and can be rewound later.

“I’m sorry, there’s no tape,” she said. “We’ve never found the tape.”

Students who check out may not even realize what they missed. “There’s no break in the tape to say, here’s what you didn’t get. You’re the last to know.”

What Faculty Can Do

Miller said that when students miss something in class, instructors can help. Thoughtful course design, she said, such as building in multiple ways for students to encounter the same material, can make a real difference.

She talked about pre-questioning as a strategy faculty do not use enough. Her research shows that when students passively re-read material they did not absorb the first time, the brain tends to tune it out again. But posing a question before reviewing material gets the brain engaged. She used an example, asking audiences to name the five oceans of the world before reviewing them. Most people have encountered the answer before but cannot recall it on the spot. Once the question is asked, though, the review suddenly lands.

Miller said the approach works by tapping into natural curiosity and encouraged faculty to put pre-questioning in the hands of students as well.

She also encouraged faculty to build in structured opportunities for students to check their understanding along the way, such as quizzes, categorization exercises, and knowledge guides.

In part one of this episode, Andy reflected on how high-stakes classroom dynamics can sharpen student focus, recalling a law school professor who used cold-calling to keep students on alert. “I’ve never paid attention like I paid attention in that class,” he said.

What Students Can Do

Miller also spoke to students directly, setting up attention management as a skill that can be learned rather than a fixed trait. She encouraged students to think ahead about the distractions they are likely to face and develop concrete plans for handling them.

“What if your neighbor is the one with their laptop out and it is distracting you? What’s a solution that you can think of ahead of time?”

She recommended habits such as turning off the phone before class and placing it out of reach, and urged students to be honest with themselves about what is and is not working.

“You’re only human, so you’re a lot better off if you’re already in the habit of turning the phone off and putting it at the bottom of the backpack so you can’t see or hear it.”

Miller said the bigger point is that students are in control. “You probably do own technology and the key is to own it instead of the other way around. You are in charge. You have a choice about what you let through and how you engage.”

Technology, Equity and the Bigger Picture

The role of technology in the classroom is not a simple one, and the conversation surfaced two distinct sides of the debate.

On one hand, Miller cited research linking social media use in class to lower GPAs, while cautioning against drawing overly simple conclusions. To illustrate how the cycle can play out for a student, she walked through a hypothetical scenario.

“I’m super fixated on my social media or my online life. And I go into class and maybe I’m less committed to the idea of school overall … and then I’ve got my phone out and then I checked out and missed some important things in class and now my GPA is kind of going down — rinse and repeat.”

On the other hand, Andy raised an important equity consideration, noting that for students with disabilities such as hearing loss, technology in the classroom is not a distraction but a lifeline.

“Technology has done so much to make the playing field more equal,” he said, adding that blanket anti-technology policies can create real barriers for students who depend on devices for access.

Remembering Names Starts with Attention, Too

Miller closed the conversation by connecting attention to her book, “A Teacher’s Guide to Learning Student Names,” and outlined her A-S-A-R framework for faculty and professionals looking to improve name recall:

Attend: Make a deliberate effort to focus the moment a name is spoken. Say: Repeat the name back to confirm and reinforce it. Associate: Use a mental connection or image if helpful. Retrieve: Recall the name one final time before ending the interaction.

She said the most common reason people forget names has nothing to do with memory and everything to do with where their attention was when the name was said. “When we are learning a name, where is our focus? We’re at that conference and we’re shaking the hand … your brain is on how am I coming across? What am I going to say? Oh, is that the buffet set up over there?”

For Miller, the lesson applies beyond names. Attention, she said, is “if not half the battle, an enormous chunk of it,” — a skill as critical for faculty designing their courses as it is for students sitting in them.

Attention as a Foundation

Earlier in the episode, Miller said attention management is ultimately about a bigger goal. “How do we develop students who are set to achieve their dreams when they’re in school and then afterwards as well?” she said. For faculty and higher ed professionals, understanding the science behind attention may be one of the most useful tools they bring into the classroom.

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