Keeping students engaged throughout a lecture: how to avoid premature packing away behaviours

Abstract

This collaborative workshop critically examined a phenomenon that can occur at the end of university lectures. We were interested in cases where students begin to pack up their belongings before the lecturer has finished talking, which we labelled ‘premature packing away behaviour’ (PPAB). Such behaviour can impact student engagement in the lecture experience and can lead to frustration for lecturers and students alike. We shared our exploratory research into this phenomenon, which adopted the perspective of Conversation Analysis. In this view, certain actions of the lecturer can cue an upcoming closing of the encounter and consequently cue reciprocal pre-closing behavior from students in the form of PPAB. Further cues discussed included time cues, AV cues and individual differences. The workshop provided opportunities for participants to share their own views and reflections on the phenomenon and concluded with a clear outline for effective teaching practice into PPAB management.