Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Call Us: 800-299-3770 Fax: 508-651-2674

Give ’em a break

I know you’re reluctant to take a break because you have too little time to get through all the material you need to cover.  I’ve been there too.

However, all of the research (referenced below) points to the same conclusion — your group will actually retain more if you do take a break.  So stop, give them a rest, and then get back to it.

Learnus Interruptus*

In psychology, the Zeigarnik effect states that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks.

Soviet psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik first studied the phenomenon after her professor, Gestalt psychologist Kurt Lewin, noticed that a waiter had better recollections of still unpaid orders. The Zeigarnik effect suggests that students are likely to remember more if their learning process is interrupted by unrelated activities.  (Zeigarnik, 1927; McKinney 1935).

*In case you were wondering, the term “learnus interruptus” was not coined by Bluma Zeigarnik. We just thought it would be easier to say than “Zeigarnik.”

Attention spans

The number of minutes a student can focus is equal to the student’s age plus two. Adults are not much different from children. They cannot focus for more than 15 to 20 minutes.

Ideally we should confine learning activities within those focus minutes and then allow for some movement to redirect the students’ attention so that processing can take place.”

Marilee Sprenger, Learning & Memory, The Brain in Action p. 26

First. Last. Middle.

During a learning episode, we remember best that which comes first, second best that which comes last, and least that which comes just past the middle. Gazzanniga et al., 2002; Terry, 2005; Reference also by David Sousa in How the Brain Learns, p. 89.

 

 

 

+19

1 thought on “Give ’em a break”

Please share your thoughts!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *