In this 1938 book about educational theory, John Dewey continues: “But they are periods of genuine reflection only when they follow after times of more overt action and are used to organize what has been gained . . .” He famously observed that you don’t learn from experience, you learn from thinking about experience. He wrote “The old phrase ‘stop and think’ is sound psychology.” (64) This classic book continues to influence instructional designers, even people like me who develop online courses. The work of contemporary researchers supports the same conclusion: to learn, you have to take time to reflect.
John Dewey, Experience & Education (New York: Touchstone Book edition, published by Simon & Schuster, 1997), p. 63.