It is criticized as being too long to hold a student’s attention based on several authors’ claims that a student’s attention span declines precipitously after 10–15 min. Despite nearly a millennium of usage, the established lecture format has come under more and more scrutiny. Indeed, the 50-min lecture still holds sway at many institutions. With the broad spectrum of physiology teaching from undergraduate courses to health professional and graduate level courses, should a “TED” approach be widely implemented in physiology curricula? Since the founding of Western universities in the middle of the 11th century, the lecture has been the traditional means of passing on knowledge. The rule dictating 18 min is based on the notion that 18 min is long enough to have a “serious” presentation but short enough to hold a person’s attention. One key stipulation given to all speakers is that they have a maximum of 18 min to present their material. The enormously popular TED talks are a series of talks in which speakers present their ideas on a wide range of topics from technology to biomedical research to culture. Certainly, even the most interesting material can be presented in a dull and dry fashion, and it is the job of the instructor to enhance their teaching skills to provide not only rich content but also a satisfying lecture experience for the students. Interestingly, the most consistent finding from a literature review is that the greatest variability in student attention arises from differences between teachers and not from the teaching format itself. Thus, the available primary data do not support the concept of a 10- to 15-min attention limit. Of the studies that do attempt to measure attention, many suffer from methodological flaws and subjectivity in data collection. Alarmingly, the most often cited source for a rapid decline in student attention during a lecture barely discusses student attention at all. A review of the literature on this topic reveals many discussions referring to prior studies but scant few primary investigations. Indeed, several institutions have reduced their lectures to 15 min in length based upon the “common knowledge” and “consensus” that there is a decline in students’ attention 10–15 min into lectures. In the current climate of curriculum reform, the traditional lecture has come under fire for its perceived lack of effectiveness.
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