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Studying optimally

Concentration

Case study

How is studying going? A supervisor on the learning team asks. Can students still concentrate well with distractions? Pieter indicates that his mobile phone is a big distraction. He knows he better put his mobile away while studying. But any intention not to use his mobile for more than 30 minutes ends in disappointment. Sometimes studying requires him to use his mobile. An app is then sent in an instant. It also doesn’t help that everyone is chatting just when he is concentrating. If he looks up and sees someone calling, his thoughts go to that one unanswered app. It mostly reminds him of the lesson where the topic was discussed, how he hung out with friends on campus after class and how cool that was. Suddenly Pieter startles again. Then, when he regains his concentration, he sees that another half-hour has passed. To his mind, he hasn’t really done anything. How can that be, he almost wonders aloud.

What is concentration?
Concentration or focus is often defined as focused attention on a specific task or action without distractionWe know concentration mainly when it is not there: we see something pass by, then let the thoughts flow. Result? Distraction. Not surprising, as thousands of stimuli, if not millions, come at us every day. From outside and inside. Think of those many cyclists on a busy city street, for instance, or one’s own thoughts. Your brain fortunately works like a filter. We do not consciously perceive most stimuli. Because of this unconscious regulation, you don’t notice many things. Think of the rustling of the extractor, humming of fridge or the soft talk a little further down the street. This filter allows us to concentrate better on the conversation we are having. We can learn to control this noise function better. With conscious regulation (focus) we do pick up the right stimuli: think of the conversation we are having. Other stimuli we don’t, like the conversation further down the corridor, or thoughts about tomorrow’s appointment.

Turn off focus: Default Mode Network
Crucial, but underexposed in the knowledge about concentration, is the fromputting focus. Anyone who focuses for long periods of time is familiar with the consequences: less concentration, increased fatigue and lack of motivation. The fromputting focus is necessary for long-term concentration. The activity in the brain during the fromputting has a lot in common with sleep. The parts of the brain involved are known as the Default Mode Network. As with sleeping, it Default Mode Network that individual chunks of information are stored in the right place. The result: improved concentration. A good night’s sleep, or a short (good!) break: your brain gets ready to concentrate better.

As a facilitator, how can you support concentration or focus?
A good starting point is to examine the source of distraction. The most common causes are external distraction (mobile, others), internal distraction (thoughts) or unconscious distraction.

The Pomodoro technique
For external distractions, you can support student with the Pomodoro technique, the most widely used, successful method. This technique is known for its fixed periods of concentration: 25 minutes of concentration alternating with 5 minutes of rest. This fixed routine gives your brain a chance to process new information and recharge for a new round of concentration. This method provides grip and a routine: two effective interventions in tackling distraction. However, two common mistakes are made with this technique.

  1. The first is pausing in the wrong way, such as grabbing your mobile or talking to housemates. You then absorb new information. Old information is then not processed and concentration does not recharge. Good breaks are looking outside, waiting while making coffee or tea, ‘doodling’ (drawing random figures) or folding clothes. Listening to music is dangerous, but can be done. Do so only with music that has been almost ‘greyed out’. Do not listen to a new CD, and certainly not a radio.
  2. The second common mistake is sticking to the 25-minute rule for the wrong reasons. Every student has different concentration skills. Some struggle with 10 minutes, while other students can go on for two hours. The important thing is to let the student try it out for themselves. Whether that is 15 minutes of concentration with five minutes of rest, or 50 minutes with 10 minutes of rest. Both are fine!

After success experiences, you can work towards longer periods. Students can vary periods as they see fit. In case of fatigue, short periods and in case of a deadline occasionally longer. In this way, you build a skill that the student can later apply as a professional.

Note!
The use of the mobile at the Pomodoro technology is a risk; distractions lurk. Fortunately, there are solutions for using the mobile differently. Consider installing an app that encourages students to concentrate. One example is Forest (iOs and Android). For every 25 minutes of concentrated work, the student plants a tree.On picking up the mobile, the student gets a motivational reminder. These, and other, apps change the mobile from a distractor to a companion.

Internal distraction
At internal diversion own thoughts distract the student from studying. Often these are thoughts of things that need to be done. Think of an app, an errand and a deadline. The solution is to provide a structure to accommodate these thoughts without losing concentration. Some successful tips include a ‘things list’, the 5-minute rule and a planner:

  • While studying, write the distracting thoughts (things) on a list. Agree to give this list attention after studying.
  • Agree with yourself the 5-minute rule: I’ll do it, but in 5 min. Make this longer as it gets better.
  • Work with a planning system, giving tasks a place in your diary. Plan study tasks, but also distractions. For example, every day after 12.00 app before that to study), after 19.00 Netflix , or between 12.00 and 14.00 chatting with housemates.

Unconscious distraction
At unconscious distraction students do not realise that they are constantly distracted. As in the example of Pieter, he does not realise how his thoughts, mobile and environment are constantly distracting him. This was also the focus of an HU study with interesting results. For a project at the HU’s Creative Business programme, a student developed an intervention to combat smartphone distraction: Students were shown an explainer explaining what focus is; how distraction works, and what the effect of the smartphone can be in it. After watching the video, they were asked to record picking up their mobiles for a week. The students involved all reported that picking up their mobile had decreased during the intervention. Awareness of distractions thus enables tackling them. Maintaining attention for longer periods of time takes practice. This skill does not develop overnight. Coaching comes in handy here. The book The Six Roles of the Teacher contains tips on how to encourage a student to develop, such as in the area of concentration. Let the student choose the context and focus for the coaching. That way, you contribute to making this process your own.

What can you refer HU student to?
The HU, through its Student Support Centre (SSC), offers workshops and pathways to students for Learning to Learn, with a special focus on procrastination. In the Learning Must Learn training (in Dutch), students receive five one-hour sessions over five weeks. In the guided training, students gain insight into their learning process and attitude, formulate development points and are challenged to experiment with their learning strategies. In an online environment with more than 40 videos, students can learn about effective learning strategies, behaviour change and step-by-step protocols to get started themselves. Besides concentration, the Learning Must Learn covered: learning strategies, procrastination, focus, brain and learning, speed reading, planning and exam strategies.

What does the HU offer counsellors about procrastination?
HU offers teachers and tutors the opportunity to become proficient in concentration. Not only for students, but also for their own development:

  • How do you guide a student to get a grip on their own study behaviour so that they learn to experiment with ways to motivate themselves, regulate themselves and get everything out of themselves?
  • How do you coach a student towards lasting change in his/her learning?
  • What are those ways that ensure you have 100% focus?

For this, keep the agenda from HU Guides in holes. scientific literature

  • Immordino-Yang et al. (2012) Rest Is Not Idleness: Implications of the Brain’s Default Mode for Human Development and Education. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012 Jul;7(4):352-64. doi: 10.1177/1745691612447308.
  • Mooneyham, B. W., and Schooler, J. W. (2013). The costs and benefits of mind-wandering: a review. J. Exp. Psychol. 67, 11-18. doi: 10.1037/a0031569
  • Graben, K et al. (2022). Receiving push-notifications from smartphone games reduces student learning performance in a brief lecture: An experimental study. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 5, 100170.

Tips for popular science literature

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