ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Cognitive Science
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1589411
Sustaining Student Concentration Word count: 6063 Sustaining Student Concentration: The Effectiveness of Micro-Breaks in a Classroom Setting
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Psychology, Business and Human Sciences, University of Chichester, Chichester, United Kingdom
- 2Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden
- 3Institute of Sport, Nursing and Allied Health, University of Chichester, Chichester, UK, Chichester, United Kingdom
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This study investigates the impact of break frequency on students' attention and quiz performance during university classes, grounded in cognitive load theory and the concept of spaced learning. Involving 253 second-year undergraduates, it reveals significant effects of break conditions on performance, with micro-break participants outperforming others and sustaining better performance over time. The study employed a mixed-methods design, comparing traditional break periods with more frequent micro-breaks. Results showed that while performance declined across seminars for both conditions, aligning with vigilance literature, the micro-break condition exhibited more consistent performance. These findings contribute to our understanding of cognitive load management and the spacing effect in educational settings. The study highlights the importance of addressing attention spans in classrooms and suggests that incorporating micro-breaks may enhance students' engagement and academic achievement. Implications for instructional design in higher education are discussed, offering evidence-based strategies for educators to optimize the learning experience.
Keywords: vigilance, sustained attention, academic performance, Cognitive Load Theory, Spaced Learning Sustaining Student Concentration
Received: 07 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sharpe, Trotter and Hale. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Michael Geoffrey Trotter, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden
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