The pause principle is a simple method of making traditional lectures into more efficient learning opportunities by incorporating well-timed pauses in the lecture. Approximately every 15-20 minutes, the instructor pauses and provides time for students to ask questions, summarize notes, or have a short discussion. Allowing students time to ask questions or organize their understanding of the materials can help students overcome declining attention levels due to cognitive overload (Hadie et al. 2018).

Research indicates that adding short breaks (typically 2-3 minutes long) with group discussion of the content is the most effective for immediate and long-term recall of the content (Di Vesta and Smith 1979; Ruhl et al. 1987). Although giving students the same amount of time at the end of the lecture for individual review or group discussion can also be used effectively as this allows encoding and restructuring of the material (Di Vesta and Smith 1979). In either situation, the pausing should be structured around a specific prompt or question to aid students in discussion and review of the main topics from the lecture. In modern lectures, the use of instant response technology (clickers, Poll Everywhere, etc.) during these pauses has also allowed instructors an opportunity to see and address student confusion on content, thus improving student learning (Dong et al. 2017).

Di Vesta, F. J. and D. A. Smith (1979). The Pausing Principle: increasing the efficiency of memory for ongoing events. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 4:288-296.

Dong, J. and W. Hwang (2017). Pausing the classroom lecture: the use of clickers to facilitate student engagement. Active Learning in Higher Education, 18:157-172

Hadie, S. N. H., A. Hassan, Z. I. M. Ismail, H. N. Ismail, S. B. Talip, and A. F. A. Rahim (2018) Empowering students’ minds through a cognitive load theory-based lecture model: a metacognitive approach. Innovations Education and Teach International 55:398-407.

Ruhl, K. L., C. A. Hughes, P. J. Schloss (1987). Using the Pause Procedure to Enhance Lecture Recall. Teacher Education and Special Education 10:14-18.

This page was authored by Michele Larson and last updated May 24, 2022

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