Our 100 minute (two 50-minute) classes take place over a 115 minute period, or, put another way, the normal university course meets for 50 minute periods with 15 minutes in between to get to back to back classes across campus. So, we teach 100  minutes over a 115 minute period. Thus, a 15 minute break is normal.

I do not know how many people actually give it. If the classroom activity involves some group work or an easy opportunity for people to slip out for a few minutes, I do not give it. If it is a solid 100 minutes, I asked students if they are good with going straight through and leaving 15 minutes early. If I have to miss a class, I ask them to go straight through for a few periods to make up the time. If the particular term leaves us short of classes -- say, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving converge in one term -- I go straight through for a few classes. But, in general, I take a break unless there is some good reason or we have agreed otherwise. In those cases, I tell students to excuse themselves if needed and return quietly. A few people will do so but the vast majority do not. It does not bother me and I do not think it bothers them.

Ginny Maurer






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From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Daniel Warner [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2013 11:01 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Cost-benefit of break for 2 hour classes?

Hi Colleagues,

Here's a non-threatening question: If you teach a two-hour class (or one hour and 50 minutes, technically), do you give the students a break half way?

Traditionally, or typically, I have not.  The extra minutes add up over the course of 9 weeks (on the quarter system) to three hours of "extra" class time!  That's a lot.  Moreover, the start-up time after a break is never entirely crisp--there are always some stragglers, some shuffling and talking and such.

But I'm thinking about changing my ways.  I wouldn't like to sit in a lecture hall for two hours without a break, probably.  Does the refreshment of a break justify its cost in time and class-room continuity?  Do students have a shorter attention span now than they did 35 years ago?

Thank you,

Dan





Prof. Daniel M. Warner
Dept. of Accounting (Business Legal Studies)
MS 9071, Parks Hall 401
Western Washington University
516 High St.
Bellingham, WA 98225
360 650-3390
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