Pause Procedure¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The pause procedure is one of the simplest supplements to an otherwise unchanged lecture: pause for about two minutes every 12-18 minutes and have students discuss and rework their notes in pairs. The pause gives students a moment to consider their actual understanding of the material just covered, including how it's organized, and creates a natural opportunity for questions and clarification before the lecture continues. Despite requiring no redesign of the lecture content itself, this simple interruption has been shown to significantly increase learning compared to an uninterrupted lecture covering the same material (Bonwell & Eison, 1991; Rowe, 1980, 1986; Ruhl, Hughes, & Schloss, 1980).

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A lecture segment long enough (12-18 minutes) to warrant a natural break
• Willingness to pause mid-lecture on a schedule, rather than only at natural topic boundaries

Constraints¶

• The pause needs to be long enough (about two minutes) for genuine pair discussion and note-reworking, not just a token break

Target Learners¶

• Learners in any lecture-format course, since the strategy requires no change to lecture content and can be layered onto an existing course with minimal preparation

Target Learning Goals¶

• Improved retention and organization of lecture content
• Early surfacing of confusion or questions, before they compound across a long uninterrupted lecture

Instructions¶

1. Plan lecture segments of roughly 12-18 minutes.
2. At the end of each segment, pause for about two minutes.
3. Have students discuss the material just covered in pairs and rework or clarify their notes.
4. Invite questions arising from the pair discussion before resuming the lecture.
5. Repeat for each subsequent segment.

Related Strategies¶

• Think-Pair-Share (Turn & Talk)

Examples¶

Key Sources¶

• Bonwell, C. C., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom (ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1). George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.
• Rowe, M. B. (1980). Pausing principles and their effects on reasoning in science. New Directions for Community Colleges, 1980(31), 27-34.
• Rowe, M. B. (1986). Wait time: Slowing down may be a way of speeding up! Journal of Teacher Education, 37(1), 43-50. doi:10.1177/002248718603700110
• Ruhl, K. L., Hughes, C. A., & Schloss, P. J. (1980). Using the pause procedure to enhance lecture recall. Teacher Education and Special Education, 10(3), 14-18.
• Arduini-Van Hoose, N. (2020). Active learning. In Educational psychology. Retrieved from https://edpsych.pressbooks.sunycreate.cloud. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.