Structured reflection breaks embedded in an online course – effects on learning experience, time on task and performance

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to gain an insight into the effects of practicing short, frequent, and structured reflection breaks interspersed with the learning material in a computer-based course. To that end, the study sets up a standardized control trial with two groups of secondary school pupils. The study shows that while performance is not affected by these embedded “reflection rituals,” they significantly impact time on task and perceived learning. The study also suggests that the exposure to such built-in opportunities for reflection modifies the engagement with the content and fosters the claimed readiness for application of a similar reflective approach to learning in other occasions.

Keywords:

• reflection breaks
• reflection prompts
• reflection support
• online formal learning
• self-instruction
• embedded prompts
• learning dashboard
• data mirroring
• student sets the test strategy
• pausing principle
• self-assessment
• feeling of learning
• time on task
• metacognitive training
• Liferay
• portlets
• evolutionary psychology

Notes on contributors

Dominique Verpoorten is a Lecturer in pedagogy at the Institute for Training and Research in Higher Education (IFRES, University of Liège, Belgium). His main interests are personalised learning, teacher professional development, stimulation and evaluation of teachers'/students' reflective practice, and interface/prompts/dashboards for meta-learning support. He is also in charge of eCampus, the team dedicated to eLearning in the university.

Wim Westera is a Professor of Technology-enhanced Learning at the Welten Institute (former CELSTEC) of the Open University of the Netherlands. He is specialising in media for learning and teaching. He holds a PhD in Physics and Mathematics, and has worked in educational media development and educational technology since the mid-1980s. From 2000, he led a group at CELSTEC of around 60 instructional designers, media developers and IT developers, being responsible for researching and applying new educational methods, models and technologies in distance education and blended settings. In 2008, he initiated the Learning Media Research Programme at CELSTEC, which specialises on social media for learning as well as mobile media and gaming for learning. He is the author of The digital turn: How the Internet transforms our existence (Authorhouse, 2013).