Attention plays a very important function in learning
activities, because learning activities require attention in order to achieve
success. Attention is a psychological activity involving intellectuality. The
attention that sustains the progress of learning is intensive attention.
Attention has an understanding:
A. Attention is the concentration of psychic energy on an
object, (see Stern, 1950, p.653, and Bigot, 1950, pp. 163).
B. Attention is the lack of awareness that accompanies an
activity.
The ability to pay attention intensively is crucial to
success in learning activities. The teacher's job is to pursue a strategy of
how students can intensively pay attention to what the teacher will say.
Because the intensive attention of these learners can be exploited in such a
way through certain learning strategies, such as providing learning materials
in accordance with the needs of students, presents materials with varied and
creative techniques, such as role playing, debate, Props and instuctional media
are varied and involving more senses and so on. In addition, the ability to pay
attention can be trained little by little but should not be too forced on a
child, because excessive coercion makes children reluctant to learn, and the
attention to be more scattered. In addition to considering these matters,
teachers also need to get rid of all things that interfere students
consentration, such as noise, bad smells in class, rooms full of pictures or
scribbles, etc.
It could be a child when coming to school to learn has
brought problems from home, so his mind is not concentrated, or has been
exhausted because before entering already spent energy to play, this is the
task of teachers for learning activity to run effectively. The teacher's
failure is when he does not consider these factors. Teachers who only think as
long as the material has been delivered, whether it is acceptable by students
well or not, will not achieve maximum results for students themselves or for
teachers themselves.The principles of attention in learning activities are:
1. Learning activities that are accompanied by intensive
attention will provide better learning outcomes.
2. Spontaneous or unintentional attention, its nature is
more intensive and can last longer than intentional.
Therefore, in relation to this, teachers need to pursue
learning activities that are spontaneous, surprising, for students, so that
lessons can be remembered longer by the students.
