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The Effects of Frequency and Duration of Thinking Periods on Science Learning

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Vishal Easwar¹ (), Ido Davidesco¹; ¹Boston College

Students often find it challenging to remain engaged during online lectures because attention, by its nature, tends to fluctuate between perceptually guided and self-generated thoughts (external and internal attention, respectively). However, little is known about how internal attention may promote or hinder student learning. The current study explored this question by manipulating the frequency and duration of internal attention (“thinking”) periods inserted into an online lecture. Undergraduate students (N = 111) watched an online biology lecture divided into six 4-minute segments. In the experimental conditions, the lecture paused every 4 or 8 minutes and students were prompted to quietly think about a lecture-related prompt for 30 or 60 seconds before typing their answer. In the control condition, students pressed a button to advance to the next lecture segment. Paired t-tests were separately conducted pooling data based on duration (30 or 60 s), regardless of frequency, and based on frequency (3 or 6 thinking prompts), regardless of duration. Our results indicated that the duration of thinking periods but not their frequency affected lecture engagement and learning: under conditions of shorter thinking periods (30 s), students reported higher lecture engagement (p = .020) and better learning gains (an effect that approached significance; p = .052). Although prior work typically linked internal attention to mind wandering and poor learning outcomes, our findings suggest that brief opportunities for internally focused reflection—when intentionally designed—could positively affect student engagement and learning outcomes.

Topic Area: ATTENTION: Other