Why ‘When’ Is Important, Too: Timing for Better Learning

Educators rightfully spend a lot of time thinking about what and how they’re going to teach. Author Dan Pink wants to get us thinking about when, too.

In his new book When, author Dan Pink takes a look at the latest scientific research on questions of time and timing in structuring students’ learning environments—questions, he argues, “have a material effect on people’s performance.”

What’s he learned?

For one thing, confirming what young people have known since time immemorial, students aged 14-24 are biologically more likely to be “owls.” That means as these students tend to sleep and wake up later, they function better academically later in the day, too. Tutors (and school policy planners) take note!

Another key finding is the necessity of taking breaks from the learning grind. “Breaks are a part of student learning,” argues Pink, who says the ideal break is social, mobile, and “fully detached” – in other words, sayonara to social media and emails for at least 10 minutes to allow the mind to relax.

Students aren’t the only to benefit from re-evaluating how we spend our time. According to Pink’s research, there are three periods to the working day: a peak period, trough period, and recovery period (that’s when you take your much-needed breaks). Pink says the research shows a need to maximize use of the peak period on serious work—like learning and teaching—and relegate administrative tasks, like checking and sending emails, to our trough period.

You can listen to Pink’s full recorded interview with EdSurge via the story link below.

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‘When’ Does Learning Happen Best? Dan Pink on the Science Behind Timing and Education https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-01-02-when-does-learning-happen-best-dan-pink-on-the-science-behind-timing-and-education