NEWS

Ig Nobel Prize Special Lecture by ICU Associate Professor CHAN, Christian

Update: December 22, 2023

On December 14, 2023, Associate Professor Christian Chan gave a special lecture to ICU students, faculty, and staff on his two Ig Nobel Prize in Education winning papers: "Boredom begets boredom: An experience sampling study on the impact of teacher boredom on student boredom and motivation" and "Whatever will bore, will bore: The mere anticipation of boredom exacerbates its occurrence in lectures. "The lecture was hosted by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and the Institute for Educational Research and Services in the Troyer Memorial Arts and Sciences Hall, Room 171. Around 80 people attended the lecture and ICU student and alum translators offered live translation of the lecture from English to Japanese.

He presented data from a previous study stating that "more than half of the students found at least half of their lectures boring" and that in recent years, students' attention spans have decreased with the development of social media. He followed these findings up with results from his own studies that predicted that "mere expectation that a lecture will be boring may be sufficient to exacerbate its subsequent occurrence" and "when students perceive that their teacher is bored, students would have lower learning motivation."

He closed the lecture with three pieces of advice. To teachers, he advised them to make their enthusiasm about their content evident to students but not go overboard. To students, he recommended them to adjust their anticipation of being bored, particularly to not enter with too low expectations. Expecting a lecture to be boring will result in us experiencing significantly more boredom. Lastly, he encouraged everyone to, "Find meaning and value in what you do! When you don't, think thrice before moving on to the next thing."

Many students and faculty members participated in the Q&A following the lecture.

Audience members asked a diverse set of questions ranging from Professor Chan's future research, to his thoughts on the underlying psychological states behind boredom, as well as clarifying questions on the results of his papers. Many even stayed after the lecture to chat with Professor Chan individually.

Professor Chan's lively and engaging lecture on boredom in the classroom, asking those present whether they have ever felt bored in class, was a fantastic opportunity for students, faculty and staff members to know how to sustain attention in learning.