The Disappearing Countdown Clock for Mid-Class Breaks in Long University Lectures
By: Brian G. Rubrecht
For many years, a 100-minute English lecture course on the history of Western philosophy has been a core part of my teaching at the university level in Japan. The course and its many pedagogical challenges have been previously relayed in several articles (Rubrecht, 2019, 2024, 2026). While these articles note that students in this undergraduate course must submit at semester’s end a 1,000-word report in English on a philosopher of their choosing, what was not discussed are the course’s short, mid-lecture breaks. This article explains why these breaks are needed and how a disappearing countdown clock makes them work.
Reasons for the Breaks
The lectures for my course are built around a series of Apple Keynote slideshow presentations. Being at heart a history course, the lectures are usually divided by historical period (e.g., the Renaissance, the Enlightenment), but occasionally by a major philosopher (e.g., Socrates, Plato). To spare students the tedium of staring at the same black font on a white background every week, the lecture slides are colored (e.g., Socrates’ slides are blue, Plato’s slides are red). While varying the slide colors used in this course has long proven beneficial1, it became clear early on that students would also benefit from short, periodic breaks. The reasons are straightforward and likely familiar to anyone who has taught such long classes.
1 Varying the background color breaks the monotony of the lectures, gives students additional retrieval clues, and creates a passive visual map of the course that supports navigation and quiz preparation.
First, 100 minutes is a long time to ask anyone to concentrate. Attention is not an unlimited resource, and mental fatigue can steadily build over time (Warm et al., 2008). Ko et al. (2017) found measurable signs of inattention in extended lecture settings, which they describe as “classroom mental fatigue.” Because an idle brain continues to consolidate and process received information (Immordino-Yang et al., 2012), downtime is not wasted time.
Second, with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence rising in Japan as elsewhere (Liu et al., 2025), and with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses similarly increasing (Okada et al., 2024), it is reasonable to assume that my classes include one or more neurodivergent students (some of whom may have never received a formal diagnosis). For these students, sustaining attention through a long lecture without a chance to rest or process course information can be particularly demanding.
Third, as a course participant myself, I can also benefit from a break. There have been semesters when I taught such courses three periods in a row, which is a lot of lecturing! The occasional planned break allows me the chance to drink some water, catch my breath, or simply collect myself before proceeding.
My Two-Minute Break Design
With these reasons in mind, I designed two-minute breaks that are placed strategically throughout my lectures. The breaks are Keynote countdown slides embedded in my lecture presentations. Each break slide presents four colored rounded boxes in a row, each with a number: 120, 90, 60, and 30, respectively (see Figure 1). Each number represents a 30-second block of remaining break time. Using Keynote’s transition function, each box slowly and quietly dissolves, from one box to the next (see Figure 2), until all have disappeared.
Students are free to do whatever they wish during these breaks. They may check their smartphones, stretch, talk to classmates, or do nothing at all. The two minutes are a “pause from the action” in what would otherwise be a nearly non-stop lecture.
All countdown clocks count down to zero. I chose this type of countdown clock because typical countdown clocks show ever-decreasing numbers on the way to zero. These are the familiar pressure-inducing “doomsday clocks” of movies and television. With this visually unique disappearing countdown clock, however, students can clearly see how much time remains without the sense of urgency that traditional countdown clocks produce. Time and again, I have watched students sit transfixed, calmly watching the boxes slowly disappear. Once the last box has vanished, I ask if everyone is ready to continue, which they usually are2. The class then resumes, a bit more relaxed than before.
Two minutes. That is all it takes.
2 If they are not yet ready, I am flexible enough to accommodate the students, for instance, by allowing extra time to field sudden student questions or letting students put away their electronic devices.
References
Immordino-Yang, M. H., Christodoulou, J. A., & Singh, V. (2012). Rest is not idleness: Implications of the brain’s default mode for human development and education. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(4), 352–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612447308
Ko, L.-W., Komarov, O., Hairston, W. D., Jung, T.-P., & Lin, C.-T. (2017). Sustained attention in real classroom settings: An EEG study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, Article 388. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00388
Liu, J., Xie, X., Li, Y., Pu, Y., Li, Y., & Yang, L. (2025). Burden of autism spectrum disorder in Japan from 1992 to 2021 and its prediction until 2050: Results from the GBD study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 16, Article 1619085. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1619085
Okada, T., Sotodate, T., Ogasawara-Shimizu, M., & Nishigaki, N. (2024). Psychiatric comorbidities of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Japan: A nationwide population-based study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, Article 1359872. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1359872
Rubrecht, B. G. (2019). Research, writing, and active learning in a specialized content class: The case of teaching and learning Western philosophy in English at a Japanese university. The International Journal of Learning in Higher Education, 26(1), 35–47. https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-7955/CGP/v26i01/35-47
Rubrecht, B. G. (2024). Teaching paraphrasing in the age of AI. MindBrainEd Think Tanks: Innovative Ideas in Language Teaching, 10(9), 40–43. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JuXUw3JqTZfsXxcqSzQmEHtiAi7_Cwfr/view?usp=sharing
Rubrecht, B. G. (2026). The ineffectiveness of instructor-level GenAI-use policies: Academic misconduct in a Japanese university English lecture course. The International Journal of Learning in Higher Education, 33(1). https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-7955/CGP/A317
Warm, J. S., Parasuraman, R., & Matthews, G. (2008). Vigilance requires hard mental work and is stressful. Human Factors, 50(3), 433–441. https://doi.org/10.1518/001872008X312152
