Staying on time and on task: How task sequencing and task timing prompts impact open-ended learning

Open-ended learning activities in which learners engage without an instructor's direct support can often feel effortful and challenging. Learners can struggle with having to monitor and control how they learn the content and how they are progressing towards task demands. We aimed to determine the impact of prompting learners on how to sequence and when to switch tasks in an open-ended learning activity. We collected data on knowledge acquisition, perceived task experience and invested mental effort.

Physiotherapy students learned about 12 diseases over 60 min in a course setting. We included prompts for task sequence (i.e. order of learning each disease) and timing (i.e. how long to spend on each). The systemic sequence (SS) group received both prompts, the systematic choice (SC) received timing prompts only, and the no prompt (NP) group received none. All participants recorded the sequence in which they learned the 12 diseases on a passport. Immediately after the session, participants completed a knowledge acquisition assessment and rated their perceived task experience.

According to an ANOVA, the NP group scored significantly higher than the SS group and the SC group on the immediate knowledge acquisition assessment (p < 0.05). The NP group also reported higher ratings of energy, lower ratings of fatigue, but no difference in invested mental effort.

Prompts for task sequences and timing did not appear to meaningfully influence participant's learning and engagement strategies. Our findings imply that preserving a learners' autonomy (i.e. using the passport) may be more effective than directive supports, which may unintentionally leave learner's feeling 'controlled' and de-motivated.