How long is a minute?

15 minutes
How long is a minute?
Learning Outcomes

Figuring out how you and your fellow students perceive time.

Description

Bring people to a room with no clocks (or where all the clocks are covered).

Make sure they don’t look on their phones and take away their watches if they wear any.

Instruct them to close their eyes and do something fun or crazy, some examples are listed in the annexed file.

Tell them to stop when they think 60 seconds have passed.

What you’ll learn: Some people will open their eyes before the 60 seconds are up and some will open them after – this game will help you better estimate the time it takes you to finish projects and tasks because you’ll understand how well you perceive time, to begin with.

Ideas For Reflection
  • How accurate were you in estimating time?
  • What about your colleagues? 
  • What influences time perceptions?
  • What distracted your attention or influenced you most?
  • Can you remember any activities that lasted longer/shorter than the time you perceived?