The Power of a Pause: Teaching in a Fast-Paced World

Studies have shown that after asking students a question, most instructors wait between 0.7 and 1.5 seconds for a response before answering it themselves. However, in an anxious, sound-saturated, fast-paced world, a few minutes of silence is what students really need to reflect, think, and form a response. Allowing this mental space is not just a kindness to our students, it can be the difference in whether or not students remember and apply what they have learned. Here are three teaching strategies to incorporate intentional pauses that help students slow down and process what they are learning.

Begin and end class with reflection.

If you facilitate live class sessions, open class with reflective silence. You could prompt students to close their eyes, recognize the things that currently occupy their thoughts, pause them or let them go for the time being, and invite focus to the course. (For online sessions, you could encourage students to turn off their cameras and mute their mics for this part.)

This opening silence can also be structured by asking students to write a two-sentence review from the previous class session, a review of what they learned in their assignments leading up to class, or what they anticipate they will learn in the class ahead.

At the end of class, reserve five minutes for students to write a simple reflection of what they learned (which has been called a one-minute paper) or remaining questions (which has been called "muddiest point"). This metacognitive act is crucial to students getting the most benefit from the learning they have done in class—switching too quickly can cause much of that learning activity to melt away.

In asynchronous online courses, write these prompts at the beginning of lessons or class messages, and have students share their opening and closing reflections on a Bb Learn Discussion Board, or a shared Teams or Google document.

Prompt students to pause and write throughout discussions.

Create intentional pauses, including breaks for writing throughout a class discussion. First, commit yourself to longer pauses after posing a question. You might even set a timer to keep track of your pause before responding or count silently to yourself. In addition, providing opportunities for students to engage in writing before a verbal discussion can greatly improve the quality of discussion. Written responses can also be shared with the entire class using technology tools such as a Google Jamboard, or simply written on Post-it notes hung around the room for students to read. These strategies help students who need or want to think through an answer rather than think as they respond. They also offer additional participation methods for students who are reluctant to speak in class.

Take 2-minute lecture breaks.

Creating space for silent thinking time is not only effective for students responding to questions, or during class discussions, but it is an effective tool for class lectures. Pausing throughout a lecture helps to refocus a student’s wandering mind and studies have also shown that it can lead to longer-term retention of lecture content and higher test results. During a 2-minute lecture break, you might prompt students to review and revise notes, summarize lecture concepts, or coach each other through sticky points. This strategy can also be applied in an online, remote, or flipped classroom by prompting students to pause video recordings of lectures in order to take notes or respond to questions.

Including time for students to remain silent, collect their thoughts, and reflect on course concepts is critical to the learning process. By being intentional about integrating longer pauses and mental breaks into your lesson plans you can improve students’ attention, engagement, and longer-term retention of learning. While taking a bit of time from your class in the moment, strategies like these ultimately lead to more productivity, and allows both you and your students to get more out of the learning experience.