Whenever you are about to start a reading session to go through a writing piece, ask a classmate or a friend to time your session. Every time you take a slight pause to look up or get distracted by something, mark a check in the margin of the paper in hand. This will make you realize that your concentration on the book or paper was not 100%.
Careful consideration will help you acknowledge that throughout the session, there were instances where you were more focused on the content that others. Now look at the check marks you jotted on the pages. Ask yourself: were the check marks made early during the reading session or in the end? Why did this happen?
In order to understand the distractions that cause the students to drift off, you need to understand how concentration actually works.
Light Concentration
When the student sits down to study or read a content piece, you are in the phase of light concentration. This initial phase continues for about the first five minutes of the session. During this phase, the student is actually settling in the environment of reading, listening, and understanding the content. Furthermore, in this stage students are more prone to several normal activities such as adjusting their sitting positions and the book/coursework, grabbing supplies within reach, playing with pencil, etc.
Light concentration accounts for the most distraction in the session. For instance, hearing the opening/closing of door in the study hall, students settling down nearby, etc., in fact, all the instances that will irritate and force you to think about other things apart from the primary task in hand. In this stage it is very hard to accomplish much in terms of reading and consuming the content.
Moderate Concentration
After getting through the light concentration, the student will now proceed into the moderate concentration phase. In this stage the student is more inclined to start paying attention to the material he or she is reading or hearing. In other words, the student begins to take and display interest in the writing piece or the lecture delivered in the classroom, and is less likely to be distracted that easily as in the beginning. Even though your concentration might be considerably broken in case someone approaches you directly, call out for you, or your phone rings, but the noises in the room or people strolling within your gaze will not catch your attention. The learning is moderately enhanced in this stage.
Deep Concentration
As the name suggests, deep concentration is the stage in which the student is purely engulfed in the learning process, is unaware of all the unwanted distractions around, and is totally focused on the reading or lecture material.
Deep concentration captures the attention of the learner in a manner that he or she might not even realize if someone called their name from close proximity. However, do realize that deep concentration has the power to take your focus away from everything. This is why it is advised to set an alarm in case an important task needs to be catered during the reading session. In this phase the comprehension level of the students is at its peak and they tend to perform more effectively in reading, conducting self-assessment, taking lecture notes, predicting questions, preparing PPT slides, and other academic commitment handled during the session. This is the time interval in which students can complete most of their homework, or any other activity to understand the subject material better.
Final Thoughts
Doesn’t matter if a student acquires a writing piece from proficient dissertation writers or do all the monthly and yearly academic projects by him- or herself, you still need to keep your concentration level up at all times. Understanding the concentration levels is particularly important when it comes to college and academic level degree programs, where the plethora of individual and group-based study sessions along with the classroom lectures are common and a necessity, if the student is to acquire a healthy comprehension and top grades in the semester.