Movement and Learning May Improve Executive Brain Function

Researchers Vazou and Smiley-Oyen wanted to find out what effect a math lesson that incorporated physical movement would have on executive brain function as well as student ratings of satisfaction with the lesson when compared with a sedentary math lesson. The researchers examined the possible effects on both overweight and average-weight students.

A total of 35 students between the ages of 9 and 11 participated in the study. Twenty-four of these were of normal weight and eleven were overweight. Researchers used the Standard Flanker test to assess elements of frontal lobe brain functioning, such as inhibition of irrelevant stimuli, short-term memory, attention-switching, and selective attention. The students' satisfaction with the lesson was assessed with the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale, which was shortened and adapted to be age-appropriate. The study also looked at the intensity of the physical activity by tracking students' heart rates as well as student ratings of difficulty using the Children's OMNI Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale.

Prior to the start of the experiment, the students visited the lab and were given an orientation to the study and practiced the procedures. On their next visit, half of the students participated in the experimental session and half in the control session. After a 6-8 day hiatus, the participants attended the other session (either experimental or control). On both days students were set up with a device to monitor heart rate and then they participated in a short reading comprehension activity so that their brain functioning was slightly exhausted as it would be during a school day. Following this, students' executive function was pre-assessed with the Standard Flanker test. Then they did ten minutes of math facts practice, either with physical movement (experiment) or seated (control). For the physically active math practice, they had to move back and forth between two tables across the room from each other, each with its own stack of flash cards. Students had to move in a specified way (i.e. skipping, crab walking) back-and-forth between the two tables. Each time they reached a table, they had to pick up a flash card and answer it before crossing to the other table. Following the math practice, students rated their exertion levels and their enjoyment of the practice. Then they completed the post-test of executive functioning.

The researchers found several differences between the sedentary math practice and the active math practice. Student ratings of exertion were higher during the active math practice. The average heart rate during the active math practice was 143.26 beats per minute and the peak heart rate averaged 169.54 beats per minute, which are much higher than the average heart rate during the sedentary practice: 90.06 beats per minute. Students practiced a similar number of math facts during both the experimental and control sessions. There was also no significant difference in students' accuracy between the two sessions. Students rated the active math practice as more enjoyable than the sedentary practice.

As for the assessment of executive functioning after each math practice, researchers found that overweight children experienced a decrease in accuracy after the sedentary practice but not during the active practice. For average-weight participants, there was increased accuracy after both types of math practice. There was a significant improvement in response time from the pre-test to post-test after the active math practice and not following the sedentary math practice for all students regardless of weight.

This experiment demonstrates that bringing movement into academic activities, such as practicing math facts, can have many benefits to students. Students experience elevated heart rates during active lessons, which could contribute to improved cardiovascular health. The study suggests that they also have improved response time in their executive functioning after being active. Overweight students may also be able to perform executive functioning tasks with higher accuracy after being active (although no such effect was found with normal-weight children). All participants found the active math practice more enjoyable, which might improve their motivation to learn. There don't seem to be any negative effects of bringing movement into the classroom, whereas the benefits to physical health, enjoyment and brain functioning are many.

Vazou, S & Smiley-Oyen, A. (2014). Moving and academic learning are not antagonists: Acute effects on executive function and enjoyment. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 36, 474-485. doi: 10/1123/jsep.2014-0035

Movement and Motivation in Learning

One study from Crete, Greece took a different approach to exploring the benefits of a physically active classroom. This study wanted to find out what effect integrating physical movement into elementary lessons might have on the learner's intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is when a task is found to be rewarding in and of itself, unlike external motivation in which some other motivator is attached to the task. Researchers found that incorporating physical activity into lessons can indeed increase the intrinsic motivation of students.

One hundred forty-seven fourth through sixth graders from fifteen different classrooms took part in the two week study. For six consecutive lessons in the subjects of language arts, math or social studies,, students' motivation was measured using the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory. The first, second, fourth and sixth lessons were taught with no change to the normal routine as a control. The third and fifth lessons incorporated ten minutes of physical activity into the lesson. These physical activities required few, if any, materials and were designed to be enjoyable and accessible for all students.

Researchers used the a simplified version of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory to gauge students' levels of motivation in the last five minutes of each lesson. They used four out of the five different categories of the measure: Interest/Enjoyment, Perceived Competence, Effort, Value/Usefulness and Pressure/Tension. During the intervention lessons, student's reported levels of "Interest/Enjoyment" significant increased when compared to the regular lessons. The Perceived Competence and Effort measures also significantly increased during the lessons that incorporated physical movement. The measure found no negative effects from the intervention lessons. The measure found no feelings of increased pressure from these lessons, and the Perceived Value of the lessons did not decrease when compared to the non-movement lessons.

This study has important implications for the benefits of integrating physical movement into the classroom. While other studies have found that physical activity during learning can increase achievement, this study discovered that movement can also serve to motivate learners. Years of education research have supported the connection between intrinsic motivation and learning. This study may explain the root cause of why incorporating movement into lesson can increase achievement: because students find this lessons more enjoyable and engaging. I am excited to see whether integrating physical movement into my own lessons will have the same effect for my students.

Vazou, S., Gavrilou, P., Mamalaki, E., Papanastasiou, A., & Sioumala, N. (2012). Does integrating physical activity in the elementary school classroom influence academic motivation? International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10(4), 251-263. doi: 10.1080/1612197X.2012.682368

A Study of Elementary Students Finds Movement Decreases Off-Task Behaviors

In a study of elementary students, researchers found a reduction in off-task behavior after four-minutes of physically intensive activities when compared with a short non-active break. I was very excited to find this article because my research project will examine this same question: whether a physical activity will reduce off-task behavior during the time span that follows it. This study’s findings support the practice of incorporating physical movement into the classroom because it can reduce off-task behaviors.

The study examined a fourth grade class of twenty-four students and a second grade class of twenty students. Every other day the students had a ten minute break that involved no physical activity, and on alternating days the students would have a ten minute break that included four minutes of “FUNtervals”, intensive physical activities. Each day, the off-task behaviors of the students were tracked for fifty minutes of class time that followed the active or non-active breaks. These off-task behaviors fell under three categories: passive, motor or verbal. In the fourth grade classroom, the number of passive and motor off-task behaviors was lower following the “FUNtervals” when compared with the non-active break. In the second grade classroom, all three types of off-task behaviors were reduced when students participated in the “FUNtervals” physical activities. Interestingly, the students that demonstrated higher frequencies of off-task behaviors on days with the non-active breaks were more likely to demonstrate a reduction of off-task behaviors on the “FUNterval” days. Therefore movement activities may be especially beneficial to students that tend to engage in off-task behavior more frequently.

I am looking forward to doing my research project in my classroom to find out whether doing a brief physical activity from the free website “GoNoodle” will reduce the number of behavioral disruptions in the lesson that follows compared to days with no such activity. The “GoNoodle” activities are not always high-intensity like the ones described in this study. Some are slower-paced yoga or stretching movements. Others are more high-intensity, such as a dance to a pop song. I wonder if both types of physical movement can be beneficial to reducing off-task behavior. Hopefully my study will give some insight into whether a variety of physical movements can be beneficial.

Ma, J.K., Le Mare, L., & Gurd, B.J. (2014). Classroom-based high intensity interval activity improves off-task behavior in primary school students. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 39, 1332-1337.

Activities that Practice Fine Motor Skills May Improve Attention for Female Students

Another study examined whether movement-based activities in the classroom can improve learning-related skills, particularly attention. This study took a different approach from the others that I have examined in this blog by focusing on the effect of movements involving fine motor skills. The study set out to test the Montessori theory that movement activities for children are effective in capturing their complete attention and that practicing such activities, especially fine-motor activities, can improve their overall attention. Interestingly, the study found an improvement in attention for female participants in the experimental group but no significant improvement for males.

A total of 68 kindergarten children from five different classrooms participated in the study, which took place in a suburban area in one of the Rocky Mountain States. All students received the regular kindergarten curriculum, which already included some typical practice of fine motor skills, such as cutting and drawing. There was no change for the thirty two students in the control group. The 36 students in the experimental group received addition movement activities that required fine motor skills. There were a total of fifty different activity boxes used in the duration of the study in which students had to move objects in a specific way using tools such as tongs or spoons. For example, in one activity box, students had to carefully place toy tropical fish onto different spool “pedestals” in a certain order using tweezers and then carefully replace the fish in the reverse order. The different activities were phased in and out of the classroom so that students always had several choices. Students practiced these activities for fifteen minutes a day for a total of six months. The activities were also available during free-choice times, so some students may have practiced them more.

All students in both groups were given a pre-test and a post-test using the attention subtest of the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS). Female students in the experimental group showed a statistically significant improvement in their attention on the post-test, while male students showed no significant change. The reasons for this discrepancy are yet to be explored, but perhaps female students found the tasks more interesting and engaging. Hopefully further studies will discover similar activities that can help improve attention for male students. In the meantime, it may be worth it for early education teachers to dedicate some classroom time to activities that specifically practice fine-motor skills in the hopes of improving attention for at least some students.

Stewart, R.A., Rule, A.C., & Giordano, D. A. (2007). The effect of fine motor skills activities on kindergarten student attention. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35 (2).

Another Study Shows Benefits of Physically Active Classrooms

A study by researchers Donnelly and Lambourne explored the connection between physical movement, cardiovascular health, weight and learning. Researchers found that a simple classroom-based intervention to increase physical activity level also improved fitness, decreased bodily fat and improved learning for the participants. In the article "Classroom-Based Physical Activity, Cognition and Academic Achievement" the researchers described their long-term study of 24 elementary schools that examined the effects of implementing a classroom-based physical activity program called Physical Activity Across the Curriculum, or PAAC, over the course of three years on students' cardiovascular fitness, BMI (body-mass index to measure fat percentage), and academic test performance compared to a control group. In the fourteen schools that implemented PAAC, students participated in lessons from a variety of subjects that incorporated exercise into learning activities. The lessons were about ten minutes each, and participants completed about 90 total minutes of PAAC each week. The researchers found numerous benefits to the intervention group, including a lower percentage of bodily fat, a higher percentage of daily physical activity, and improvements in reading, math, spelling and composite test scores when compared to the control group.

The PAAC program was created around the philosophy that physical activity can and should take place in a variety of settings. The program encourages schools to move away from the idea that students must go to a designated place such as the gym and change into different clothing in order to exercise. Instead, PAAC promotes incorporating vigorous movement into classroom learning. An example of a PAAC lesson to learn multiplication describe in the article would be a fixed number of students (i.e. 5 students) running a fixed number of laps (i.e. 5 laps) and then having to calculate the total number of laps that were run by students (5 x 5 = 25). The PAAC program requires very little to no prep time for the teachers and no special materials. However, as evidenced by this study, the benefits were numerous.

In all my searchers for a PAAC official website, all I found was this study. It seems that this study was an initial trial of the effectiveness of the PAAC program, and hopefully it will become more readily available for educators. Nonetheless, any teacher with a little creativity and motivation could take up the PAAC philosophy and find ways to include exercise in their lessons. The nine lessons of about ten minutes each over the course of a week that was implemented in the study is not too daunting of a number for any teacher, and the possible benefits to students can be numerous. I hope to find ways to implement lessons similar to those described in this study in my own classroom.

Donnelly, J.E. & Lambourne, K. (2011). Classroom-based physical activity, cognition, and academic achievement. Preventative Medicine, 52, S36-S42.

Classroom Movement Interventions Can Increase Learning Behaviors

A 2006 study by Mahar et al., published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, examined the effectiveness of increasing physical movement in the classroom on promoting positive learning behaviors as well as the daily physical activity levels of elementary students at school. The researchers used pedometers to determine the daily level of physical movement in school of 243 students. One hundred thirty five of the students also received a classroom intervention called “Energizers” to increase their physical movement, while a control group of 108 students did not receive the intervention. The researchers tracked the on-task behaviors of students prior to and after implementing the intervention. They also compared the daily in-school physical activity levels of students that received the intervention and those that did not. The researchers found that the physical activity levels of the students in the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group and that the students that participated in the intervention had an 8% increase in on-task behavior. This study demonstrates that increasing movement in the classroom can have significant implications for improving positive learning behaviors and decreasing disruptions.

The “Energizers” intervention would be an easy one for schools to implement. In this study, teachers received only 45 minutes of training on the program. They were able to choose from a variety of “Energizer” activities each day. The “Energizers” lasted only about ten minutes and required no equipment and very little preparation. During the Energizers students stood up and engaged in movement. This simple intervention was effective in increasing the number of steps students took in a school day by almost 1000. It also increased positive in-class behaviors by 8% on average. Interestingly, students that demonstrated more disruptive behaviors had an increase of 20% in positive behaviors after the intervention. This is especially significant because research has demonstrated that students with more disruptive behaviors will often have more struggles academically (refer to my earlier blog posts). I wonder if providing in-class interventions such as “Energizers” starting at an early age could improve the long-term achievement of students that are at-risk due to demonstrating less positive learning behaviors than their peers.

This study is inspiring because it is very similar to the research I hope to conduct with my students. I plan to track the frequency of three defined off-task behaviors (inappropriate sitting, blurting out, and engaging in private conversation with peers) that cause me to pause and redirect students during fifteen minutes of writing instruction. I will implement a free online intervention call GoNoodle that provides videos of short, physically engaging “brain breaks”. I hope to see a reduction in off-task behaviors after implementing the intervention. If proven effective, the GoNoodle intervention could prove to be a powerful engagement tool for early elementary teachers.

Mahar, M. T., Murphy, S. K., Rowe, D. A., Golden, J., Shields, A. T., & Raedeke, T.D. (2006). Effects on a classroom-based program on physical activity and on-task behavior. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 38, 2086-2094. doi: 10.1249/01.mss.0000235359.16685.a3

Exploring the Connection Between Behavior and Achievement

A 2006 study that demonstrates the connection between kindergarten behavior and academic achievement is “The Impact of Kindergarten Learning-Related Skills on Academic Trajectories at the End of Elementary School” by Megan M. McClelland and Alan C. Acock of the University of Oregon and Frederick J. Morrison of the University of Michigan. These researchers sought to find the connection between how children are rated on a whole set of abilities that are deemed necessary for school success, which they refer to as “learning-related skills”, and their abilities in math in reading from kindergarten through sixth grade. They discovered that there is a significant correlation between how kindergarten students rate on a measure of learning-related skills and their scores on math and reading assessments all the way through the sixth grade. Students with lower ratings of learning-related skills had lower scores on the assessments than their peers that were rated higher on learning-related skills, with the difference between the two groups increasing through second grade and remaining steady through the sixth grade.

Five hundred thirty eight children participated in the study. The researchers used the work-related portion of the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scale to assess learning-related skills. The teacher had to rate the participating students on a 7-point scale on 16 different work-related qualities. Some of skills that this measure assessed were self-control, social skills, attending to directions and collaborating in group work. For the math and reading assessments, they used the Peabody Individual Achievement Test-Revised for the kindergarten through second grade years and the Carolina End-of-Grade tests for third through sixth grades.

The researchers found, through using latent growth curve analyses, that kindergarten ratings of learning-related skills significantly predicted the results of the math and reading tests as well as growth between kindergarten and second grade. They also determined that the ratings of learning-related skills and kindergarten through sixth grade readings scores correlated at levels ranging from 0.44 to 0.66 and for math scores from 0.59 to 0.67.

This study shows that the behaviors and social abilities of young children can have a powerful effect on their learning throughout the elementary years. Some students arrive at school already possessing certain characteristics and abilities that will enable them to be successful learners, while others simply do not have these characteristics and abilities. For those students who lack these “learning-related skills”, it is essential that the early education teachers find ways to engage and maintain their attention and minimize off-task behaviors. I believe that for those students that find the school transition difficult, the incorporation of movement into the learning experience can be a powerful engagement tool that can help these students overcome the academic disadvantage they may face.

McClelland, M. M., Acock, A. C., & Morrison, F. J. (2006). The impact of kindergarten learning-related skills on academic trajectories at the end of elementary school. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21.