Do you teach a 50-minute class? Or perhaps you teach a longer block of time: 75 minutes, three hours, or even six hours, like I am currently doing? Lecture breaks can be used every 20 to 30 minutes to enhance student learning by providing:
● a “break-in” at the beginning of your class session, which allows you to assess students’ understanding of a homework assignment or the previous class session
● a “break-up” at points in each class session when students’ attention is waning, and you want to restart their attention clock with a change in your teaching and learning strategy
● a “break-through” as students elaborate on new concepts in order to build a cognitive bridge between prior knowledge “chunks” and today’s learning objectives
● a “break-down” at points throughout the class session when checking students’ understanding is desirable
