Dear Prof, you are asking about the best time of day to deliver a lecture.  So you need to consider both the lecturer's efficiency and the students receptiveness.  I like to deliver as early as possible, 8 am (like Nageswara) but my colleagues who haven't had a cup of tea/coffee prefer all classes, especially lectures, to start at 9 am!!  It's the same with students, morning birds like lectures as early as possible; night owls are only fully awake at 10 am.

The link says: " Research revealed our attention span is smaller than ever thanks to the growing presence of smartphones, tablets and laptops."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2534163/Proof-shrinking-attention-span-Average-person-switches-devices-21-times-HOUR.html

For me, the best time to deliver a lecture is as early as possible; then the students are still in full concentration.

I always like to deliver the morning sessions. We have several MDP activities going on in our institute, beside teaching of the MBA classes. So collegues who direct these MDPs regularaly approach others for delivering sessions in these programs in the area of one's specialization. I always insist that I would take the session prodided there is a  morning session possible for my session. Our sessions are usually of 3 hours with a break of 15 minutes after 90 minutes.

I think that the best time for the lecture is 9:00 to 12:00 . Before 9:00, the students will be starting to wake up & after 12:00 their stomachs start to distract their brains. In lectures ,after lunch , the students become more lazy so the instructor has to pay an extra effort to involve them & to let them pay more attention. In some specializations, such as chemistry, it has been a wise arrangement to let the laboratory courses be in the afternoon.

I always like to deliver my lecture as early as possible, preferably at 8.00am. In IIT Delhi we used to have all lectures during the morning session ( 8 to 12) and then have tutorials and practicals in the afternoon sessions. It worked very well.

It depends on the habits of the lecturer. Personally I prefer to teach in the second half of the day. I think better at late night. Hence, sometimes it is difficult to wake up early morning.

Dears @Nizar and @Nageswara, I like this model to deliver the lectures during the morning and to have the tutorials, practicals, and/or labs in the afternoon sessions.

Dear @Abderrahmane, this is interesting, so, you deliver the first part and then you pause 10 minutes and deliver the second part and pause for 20 minutes; is it for all levels of students, grad and undergrad?

When scheduling dates and times for the lecture we have to keep the following in mind:

optimum day of the week, time of day or time of year to hold the lecture to ensure maximum reach to our target audience.

The best time in the day to deliver a lecture, especially the math lecture, are the first classes in the morning.

Dear @Debi, it is interesting to have feedback about long lectures because your sessions are usually of 3 hours with a break of 15 minutes after 90 minutes.

Dear friend @Kazaros,  thank you for your contribution, how do you find the reaction and interaction of the students  in the second half of the day or at late night.

Dear @Qefsere, yes indeed, the best time in the day to deliver a lecture in Math is the first classes in the morning.

Dear @Abderrahmane, thank you for the feedback.

Great question!

College students, in my experience, like mid morning classes. I had the experience of teaching early morning classes and the attendance was low. Mid morning classes attendance and attention spans are much higher.

I remember the results of a study on the receptiveness of German university students. It said that students are most receptive in mid morning. It was also an argument to cancel early morning (8-10) classes. 

There might be different considerations in the warmer climate zones, though.

Dear Prof, you are asking about the best time of day to deliver a lecture.  So you need to consider both the lecturer's efficiency and the students receptiveness.  I like to deliver as early as possible, 8 am (like Nageswara) but my colleagues who haven't had a cup of tea/coffee prefer all classes, especially lectures, to start at 9 am!!  It's the same with students, morning birds like lectures as early as possible; night owls are only fully awake at 10 am.

The link says: " Research revealed our attention span is smaller than ever thanks to the growing presence of smartphones, tablets and laptops."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2534163/Proof-shrinking-attention-span-Average-person-switches-devices-21-times-HOUR.html

In 35 years of giving public lectures, invariably in universities to which I have been invited, I have always been scheduled for late afternoon, whether I like that time or not. Hence, so late in the day, I have felt more pressure on me to enchant or enrapt my audience with my manner of presenting.  Ideally, I would have loved to have lectured in mid-morning, when most awake, but that has never been an option for me!

Dear @Reginald, thank you for the point: College students like mid morning classes with attendance and attention spans are much higher. Thank you dear @Michael for the contribution; 8 to 10 is a great time for delivering a lecture; in some countries with hot weather they need different considerations. So, dear @Miranda, you like early lectures. Dear @Nelson, it is not an easy situation to deliver a lecture in a time that you do not like; however, you did cope with this situation.

Morning sessions should be preferred to that of afternoon; I always did.

Earlier on in my career when working in another organization in another country I was scheduled to deliver a 20 minute case presentation immediately after lunch every second week. What was most illuminating as the presenter was to be scanning the audience and watching as an increasing number of people nodded off per every 5 minutes as the presentation was delivered. By the end of the presentation at least 25-50% of the audience asleep!

Clearly missed the opportunity to collect some observational data and come up with a publication!

Session 1 - students / participants would be fresh

Session2 - suitable for "executive learning" after work...

Dear Abedallah,

My preferable time for giving lecture is in the morning at 9:00 or late afternoon. Delivering lecture at 8:00 is associated with yet sleeping students, so 9:00 is optimal. Afternoon I have achieved also good attention between 5:00 - 7:00 PM. The worse time for audiences participation is between 1:00 - 3:00PM.

According to my experience, the best time to give lecture is 9:00 or 9:30 in order to get the most motivated students.

10 in the morning is a good time: then, most students should be awake, and they are not too tired from earlier lectures. My least favorite time is at 18: then, I am tired from my working day that still starts in the morning, and students are tired from courses held earlier.

I preferred to take lectures in morning hours in between 9 - 11 am before energy are drained out from students as well as mine. The practical classes on afternoon sessions.

AM for lectures, early PM for practical, Late PM for continuing education or executive levels

Sounds like an interesting topic - most of the answers, including mine (early mornings) may just be our preference and the students may like later lectures as their brains are wired differently. I would be interested to read the findings of any research that has been conducted in this area. 

Thank you dears @Asit and @Muhammad, for sharing your thoughts and bringing new related issues into discussion; some students like to have night lectures.

Yes indeed dear @Deborah, it is a bad time to deliver a lecture after lunch; I prefer early morning because it is easy to let students wake up than after lunch when the audience is tired and willing to take a nap.

Thank you dear @Krishnan for sharing your thoughts.

Dear @Beata, thank you for sharing your opinion about the suitable time to deliver a lecture. The time for delivering lecture at 8:00 is associated with yet sleeping students; I like to wake them  up.

Thanks dear @Frederic for joining the discussion and your  experience, the best time to give lecture is 9:00 or 9:30 in order to get the most motivated students.

Yes indeed dear @Tiia, the least favorite time is at 18: then, the lecturer is  tired from  working day that still starts in the morning, and students are tired from courses held earlier.

Dear @Adel, thanks for joining the discussion and raising the cultural issue and the need of the audience too. I agree that we should avoid lecturing during or at lunch or the nap time.

Yes indeed daer @Ratan; before energy are drained out from students as well as the lecturer.

Thank you dear @Subhash for sharing your thoughts; it sounds that there is a proper time for the several types of lecturing.

Yes dear @Kevin, I would also be interested to read the findings of any research that has been conducted in this area. 

The earlier the better!

Period!

@Tobias, please, wait a bit ;))

I agree with you dear @Tobias, as early as possible.

Dear @Michael, somebody has to let the students wake up, dear @Tobias and me do it.

Dear @Roland, I share with you the same concern; the students become lazy in the last years. Why? is a big question! Whatever, in the last years there are many exemplars for these students of successful people in business who were without any uni degree.

Dear @Cecilia, thank you for joining the discussion and pointing out the importance of cultural issues that affect the ability of the audience to receive the lecture properly.

In my opinion, independently the theme of the lecture, the question of the culture's meal times and the fact of students are becoming lazy in the last years... morning session (8 to 11 am) are better.

• I always prefer to have first lecture of the day between 9  to 12 - morning hours. Reason min of distraction and max receptivity/responsiveness of the students as well as a teacher/faculty.

Dear Professors @Jean and @Ravi, thank you for joining the discussion and sharing your opinion. We join the same schedule, the morning time.

Dear Dr. Abedallah

I prefer to give a lecture between 8.00 -11.00 am.

Morning lectures are better for lecturing maths and statistics, whereas their applications can be delivered in the afternoon.

Agree with Mahfuz!

So do I. Regards

I have lectures in the morning (8-12 A.M.) as well as in the afternoon (2-5 P.M.). But I prefer the morning classes more, as students are awake and pay more attention. If the weekly timetable (schedule) permits, I select the morning classes, definitely. 

In my opinion, the best time to give a lecture is in the morning and should not take more than two hours with a break of 10-15 minutes after the first 45-50 minutes of lecture.

It depends on the human life cycle which is influenced by rhythmic biological cycles that affect one's ability in various domains, such as mental, physical and emotional activity. With some exception to certain individuals, most population have two peaks in a daily cycle. Around 10am is the first peak and the second peak is in the afternoon around 4pm. Therefore, I found myself more energetic in the morning more than in the afternoon unless I take a nab before 3pm. A gain the biorhythm cycle might be disturbed if one is derived from sleep or sleep less hours than usual. The cycle is related to sleep and work and to the light and dark. Hormones secretion is affected by fluctuation of time hours of sleep.

Most of my lectures are in the morning.. The only problem with 8 AM classes are late arrivals!. I have actually asked this question from my students several times and in different classes.

The majority of students prefer the 10 AM classes, after that comes 8 AM classes .The least favorable time is after lunch as they loose their concentration. I had one bright student who even took several 10 min naps in the class.

Depending on the subject matter, I believe the best time to deliver a lecture on mathematics for example would be early morning. Whereas a lab session can be scheduled for an afternoon session. In addition, overall, I believe that lectures on subject matters that require more attention and problem solving using logic and reasoning should be scheduled in the morning rather than later in the day.

Thanks for all of for your contributions. Dears @Issam, @Mahfuz, @Costas, @Hanno,  @Jose, and @Behrouz agree that morning lectures are better for Maths and Statistics,  while afternoon for applications. Dear @Mahmoud has  lectures in the morning as well as in the afternoon, but he prefers the morning classes because  students are awake and pay more attention.

Dear @Hashem has a point:"It depends on the human life cycle which is influenced by rhythmic biological cycles that affect one's ability in various domains, such as mental, physical and emotional activity. With some exception to certain individuals, most population have two peaks in a daily cycle". Yes indeed, however,  a uni lecturer has to have fixed times for his lectures. Dear @Behrouz share the problem with 8 AM classes are late arrivals.  Dear @Mohamed believes that lectures on subject matters that require more attention and problem solving using logic and reasoning should be scheduled in the morning rather than later in the day.

I find, early morning is the best time to deliver a lecture.

Thanks dear @Asmat for joining the forum of discussion, like me,  early morning is the best time to deliver a lecture.

Dear @Muhammad, you are most welcome and thank you for joining the discussion.

I would  like to take lecturers in morning hours.. But is is not possible all the time because students do have clinics in morning hours..

We,students and me too are in fresh mood. So, they will enjoy lectures and probably graps more rather than Post Lunch Lecture from 2 to 5pm

Dear @Dhara, thank you for joining; I also feel that we  are in fresh mood. So, the students will enjoy lectures and probably graps more rather than Post Lunch. I hope to see research in this field that agrees with your observations.

Then it would be interesting Abdullah sir..

Dear @Praveen sent me his opinion in a message that I like to share with you: "According to me for teacher every time is good to deliver a lecturer if students are ready."

Also dear @Andrea sent me his opinion in a message that I like to share with you: "9.00 AM.. Brains are not tired, and people have hust had their coffee."

I think that it is a cultivated habit, to lecture early in the morning. Usually, all teachers, from kindergarten to high school, give lecture between 8 to 12. And of course, at University. (3or4 + 12 + 3or4or5) years with early lectures. It is definitely a habit, a routine!

I agree with Hashem Adnan Kilani, students are humans with different life cycles.

As children, I didn't have choices and I was used to it, every day, early in the morning.  As student, I found myself as night person, I study and work very well after-noon and during the night. (In College, I hated early lectures and early energetic teachers :D).

Now, when I give lectures, I always follow the general rule: early in the morning. Of course, I am tolerant and I understand why some students appear after 10 minutes or have concentration difficulties at the beginning :).

Thank you dear @Cristina for this detailed answer;   all teachers deliver lecture between 8 to 12. At University. (3or4 + 12 + 3or4or5) years with early lectures. It is definitely a habit, a routine!  I also share with you:" I am tolerant and I understand why some students appear after 10 minutes or have concentration difficulties at the beginning :)."

May I add a very simple rule?

So early as possible, but only under the condition, that lecturer and students are already awake.

This is optimal situation dear @Hanno: lecturer and students are already awake. 

Dear @Kamal, thank you for sharing the discussion: So, early morning is the best; however, there is the issue of the large number of students at the university and consequensly, many lecturers can not choose their favourite time.

Dear @Niranjan Biswal shared with me his opinion that "I think Sir, it is Morning." Thanks for joining the forum.

The consensus so far appears to be the preferred time is morning (ever early morning) for lectures and discussions.    Unfortunately, as @Abedellah has pointed out, it is not always possible to choose the time when we lecture, especially at a large University where there are many Profs competing for limited availabililty of classrooms.

I myself prefer early morning classes.   In the early morning, students who have had their breakfast are more inclined to listen and participate in a class because they are not thinking about eating and they are more awake.

My dear @Aamir Habib shared with me his opinion: "Well for my lifestyle and daily routine what i have considered is that lectures in the morning are more fruitful. The reason is that one is fresh in the morning. Well this conditioned on the fact that you have prepared your lecture well before."

Dear @James, I agree with you: "I myself prefer early morning classes. In the early morning, students who have had their breakfast are more inclined to listen and participate in a class because they are not thinking about eating and they are more awake."

Dear @Rasbindu Mehta shared his opinion with me: "So far as physics teaching is concerned we found that it is better to keep lectures in morning and laboratory practicals in afternoon."

In my experience, in specialized courses, with very motivated students, there is no time better than another. The relationship with the students and the course contents are  more important than hour of lecture... and even later hours are best (5 to 7 pm)

Yes indeed dear

Generally, we must follow the better time of the activity's optimum of the brain which differ slightly from one to another......

Thank you for the advice dear @Jose: "Effective lecturing is characterized by enthusiasm and expressiveness, clarity, and interaction."

Dear @Jean, thank you for joining the forum, I am personally exhausted after 1pm. Sure, I have to deliver lectures for the graduate students after 2pm, but with more efforts.

Thank you dear @Hashem for joining the discussion.  Yes indeed dear @Noureddine,   we must follow the better time of the activity's optimum of the brain.

for me, any time, as long as I am well-prepared! however, it would sometimes depend on what type of audience one is addressing.

Dear @Mohammed, thank you for sharing your thoughts and sharing the discussion; the time of the lecture depends on the kind of audience.

Yes indeed dear @Kamal, lectures' time at the university depends on the available lecture halls and spaces at the university; continuous learning lectures have audience other than uni students and may prefer afternoon lectures at other places than uni halls.

I think that for math lectures the best hour of day is in the morning, not very early. But, for other disciplines, like human studies, maybe it could be late at afternoon.

I agree with you dear @Demetris, Math lectures' best hours of day are in the morning, then students' minds are still fresh.

Neither students nor teachers/researchers have the luxury to choose the time.

An academician has to be ready anytime during the day (+ night for astronomers) .

Please keep 6(+/-1 ) hours within 24 hours to reboot your body.

Whenever you feel like it, my friend, and you're apt for it! Time is NOT the point; readiness, preparedness and motivation is!

The early morning is the most suitable time to give a scientific lecture. It is also possible to give a lecture or a seminar after 4pm when the institute is ready for the afternoon lecturing.

As Mohammed Saleem Ali-Stayeh has stated any time is Best,Provided the Lecturer is well prepared and the Audience can be attracted by Capturing their attention by the Characteristic Style of the Lecturer.

However Topics involving Mathematics and Logic or those that require proper attention by the Audience can be had in the early part of the day.

Practicals, Demonstrations etc. can be had in the After noon.

Lectures involving Interactive Discussions on General or Lighter Topics can be had in the later part of the Afternoon Session.

After Dinner Lectures have to be on subjects known to both the Lecturer and the Audience to have Nice Interactive session to drive away the Drowsiness.

P.S.

For me - after noon.

Dear @S. Sahijpal, I gree with you that in most cases: neither students nor lecturers have the luxury to choose the time.

Dear @Marwan, thank you for sharing the discussion and for sharing your opinion.

Yes indeed dears @Shafig and @Adnan, the early morning is the most suitable time to give a scientific lecture.

Dear @Pisupati, thank you for sharing the forum: any time is best, provided the Lecturer is well prepared and the audience can be attracted by Capturing their attention by the Characteristic Style of the Lecturer.

Thank you dear @Vladimir for sharing your thoughts and opinion; after noon mostly for graduate sessions.

My dear @Ali Asghar Moshtaghie shared with me his opinion: "My best lectures are usually in the beginning of the morning since clin biochem is roughly difficult for student to understand it."

Regarding to the capacity of our brain, I think, afternoon is the best for humanities but natural science should be taught in the morning. 

Dear Agnes, could you please give me some hints to understand your remarks? I´m physicist. Regards

In considering about this question, the following paper would be of some help: Kraemer S, Danker-Hopfe H, Dorn H, Schmidt A, Ehlert I, Herrmann WM, "Time-of-day variations of indicators of attention: performance, physiologic parameters, and self-assessment of sleepiness." Biol Psychiatry. 2000 Dec 1;48(11):1069-80. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11094140 .

It depends on whom you address this question. The lecturer, who is also a researcher, would want to deliver his lecture asap, i.e first thing in the morning, so that he can spend the rest of the day conducting his own research without any interruptions. For serious students who spend hours of their sleeping time revising, solving problems writing essays, etc., a 10AM lecture is better than an 8AM lecture but they will attend both. For other, less serious students it makes no difference, they simply don't show up for the early morning lectures!

I usually prefer lectures started at 10:00 AM, because in my field ( architecture and Interior design) students usually have a lot of work to do at home ( drawings, modeling ) which drives them to be awake over night or at least having few hours to sleep. That leads to being late or absence from early lectures at 8:00 AM. On the other hand, students who attends late lectures ( 2:00 PM and after) will be tired because of having two lectures before, one of them is a practical lecture for 3 hours.

Hence there should be a common plank and equitable distribution of time periods while allocation of class, so that every teacher knows how to handle the class in different time zones and also the students to be "awakened and listening" during all periods of the class. The best receptivity for the participants is "when they are least disturbed by other things". Though Morning sessions and early evening sessions it best, it is not practically possible to always conduct the lecture session only during these time periods.

It will be utter unjust when teachers have session during in the "off take time periods", it means they need to spend more energy than that is spend by the teacher during the "receptive period".

my best time 10-noon

I do not like to do it early in the morning nor in afternoon.

Like a listener I prefer in the morning, or in the evening if then we can talk with a drink.

I think RG should reveal the name of down voters, or at least each down voter should mention the reason for his reaction so the others will learn.

I do not know why a post with "happy Eid" is down voted?

we posted happy Christmas many times and no one down voted the post!!

RG supposed to be a platform for intellectual open minded people, not closed minded idiots.

Definitely the first two hours on working days, after relaxing with a cup of coffee. I currently used that time to revise and editing papers because my mind is fresh and I can remember more things that when I'm busy or tired, hours later.

According to the opinion of the majority of the experts participating in this debate, the best time to give a lecture is in the morning. 

Dears @Agnes, @Hanno, @Kamal, and @Jorge, thank you very much for the continuous contribution.

Dear @Issam, you make a good point: The lecturer, who is also a researcher, would want to deliver his lecture asap, i.e first thing in the morning, so that he can spend the rest of the day conducting his own research without any interruptions.

Yes indeed dear @Jeanan, architecture and Interior design students usually have a lot of design projects to do at home which drives them to be awake over night or at least having few hours to sleep. Therefore, they are not awake to attend early lectures.

Dear @Venkata: thank you; I think most lecturers like to deliver their lectures mid-morning (9-11).

Dear @Krishnan, thank you for your contribution, The best receptivity for the participants is "when they are least disturbed by other things".

Dears @Marwa, @Shafig, @Ahmad, thank you for joining the forum, so, you prefer, not early nether late.

Dear @Ana, thank you for the contribution: "Like a listener I prefer in the morning, or in the evening if then we can talk with a drink."

Yes indeed dear @Ahmad, each down voter should mention the reason for his reaction so the others will learn, otherwise, the action of down voting is useless.

Dear @Yvan, we share the same time: Definitely the first two hours on working days, after relaxing with a cup of coffee. 

Dear Abedallah,

like you I prefer the early morniing hours, but my short remark:

the cup of coffee does´nt relaxe you, it makes you getting awake. ;-)