Attention span: A goldfish is better than many of us

JOHNNY was an average college student. He’s a typical representation of what ordinary students in my class were doing when they attended my business management class until my retirement in 2018. You can see him tinkering with his mobile phone, like the rest of other students, except for five souls out of around 20 who prefer to fix their eyes on me, watching my minute movement.

The moment I did the roll call, Johnny would howl “present!” without looking at me. He was listening, at least for the time being. After that, the oft-repeated question would pop out of my mind: How long would an average student keep their attention to my lecture this time?