Attention during lectures often declines due to high cognitive demands, challenging student learning. The increasing popularity of online education, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, has added to the attention-sustaining difficulties students face during lectures. Online lecture breaks are a promising intervention to enhance attention and learning; however, there is limited research on how they should be designed. In the current study, I investigated the effects of break duration and frequency (Experiment 1) and break activity (Experiment 2) during an online lecture on student attention and learning. In both experiments, undergraduate students watched a 50-minute video-recorded online lecture and then completed an immediate comprehension quiz and a post-lecture survey that included questions about their lecture engagement and experiences. In Experiment 2, attention was measured through probes during the lecture, and a second comprehension quiz was administered one week later. Contrary to my predictions, findings from Experiment 1 revealed that taking three 2-minute open-ended lecture breaks led to significantly lower performance on the immediate quiz compared to taking one 6-minute open-ended lecture break or no breaks. Interestingly, participants in the combined break(s) conditions reported engaging in significantly more media multitasking behaviour and decreased levels of motivation during the lecture compared to the no breaks condition. Consistent with my predictions, Experiment 2 demonstrated that taking stretching breaks during an online lecture significantly improved immediate quiz performance compared to taking social media breaks or no breaks. These findings suggest that structuring online lectures with well-designed breaks can enhance learning outcomes, with stretching breaks showing particular promise. However, further research is needed to explore other factors that influence the quality and effectiveness of lecture breaks, as poorly designed breaks may inadvertently hinder learning. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Maintaining attention during online lectures can be particularly challenging for students, which ultimately impacts their learning. Lecture breaks are often recommended as a tool to help improve attention and learning, but there is limited guidance on how they should be designed and implemented. In this study, I examined the effectiveness of different types of breaks in an online university lecture among university students. Surprisingly, frequent short open-ended breaks led to lower quiz scores compared to one longer open-ended break or no breaks. Interestingly, students who took at least one break engaged in more media multitasking and had reduced motivation to learn during the lecture. However, stretching during these breaks resulted in better quiz performance compared to using social media or taking no breaks. Therefore, while breaks can be poorly designed and unintentionally hinder learning, they can also be strategically integrated into online lectures by incorporating stretches to promote learning.

Note-taking is ubiquitous. Whether we write down a grocery list, type our intentions for the day, or record a voice note for a friend, we often use notes to externalize our thoughts. We “delegate” this information to “in the world” extensions of our cognition, thus lightening our cognitive loads. The current thesis investigates the effects of note-taking as a form of cognitive offloading in an applied research setting. The note-taking literature is fragmented regarding practical note-taking recommendations for educators. The current thesis advances our knowledge and understanding of the crossover between cognitive offloading, note-taking, and individual differences. The laboratory research presented in this thesis uses novel materials that mimic the classroom environment, with future goals of translating this research into the actual classroom. Chapter 2 explores note-taking from a cognitive offloading perspective and demonstrates how differences in note-taking quantity affect recall. Chapter 3 showcases how differences in learning between note-taking modalities are seen sporadically and only when they intersect with the type of test. Chapter 4 investigates the importance of individual differences (e.g., working memory capacity) when exploring cognitive offloading and note-taking, and demonstrates how surface findings are not generalizable once we investigate underlying individual differences. While our research started as a way to understand how we offload information via note-taking and its effects on learning, we hope our findings and general discussion encourage the reader to explore the generalizability of applied cognitive research. Note-taking is a complex process, and our future work aims to investigate how learners differ and how we might disseminate research in education to be inclusive and diverse. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Imagine a world without technology or external resources to express your thoughts: no “to-do” lists, calendar reminders, sketches, or notes. Since our memory capacities are limited, we often maintain a record of information “in the world”, as opposed to only using our limited memory stores. This form of mental delegation is known as “cognitive offloading”. One way we offload information for future access is through note-taking. In an educational setting, note-taking influences our ability to learn and review information. How we take notes, and their effects on learning, have been debated in the literature. This thesis explores the impact of cognitive offloading and note-taking on learning, and demonstrates the importance of exploring individual differences (e.g., memory capacity and note-taking preference) in applied educational research. Throughout this thesis, we prompt our audience to frame note-taking and cognitive research takeaways through an inclusive educational lens.