FUN AND GAMES MAKE FOR BETTER LEARNERS
Four minutes of
physical activity can improve behaviour in the classroom for primary school
students, according to new research by Brendon Gurd.
A brief,
high-intensity interval exercise, or a "FUNterval," for Grade 2 and
Grade 4 students reduced off-task behaviours like fidgeting or inattentiveness
in the classroom.
"While 20 minutes
of daily physical activity (DPA) is required in Ontario primary schools, there
is a need for innovative and accessible ways for teachers to meet this
requirement," says Dr. Gurd, lead researcher and professor in the School
of Kinesiology and Health Studies. "Given the time crunch associated with
the current school curriculum we thought that very brief physical activity
breaks might be an interesting way to approach DPA. We were particularly
interested in what effects a brief exercise bout might have in the classroom
setting."
For the study,
students were taught a class and were then given an active break, where they
would perform a FUNterval, or a non-active break where they would learn about
different aspects of healthy living on alternating days for three weeks. After
each break, classroom observers recorded instances of off-task behaviour. When
a four minute FUNterval was completed during a break from class, there was less
off-task behaviour observed in the 50 minutes following the break than if
students completed a non-active break.
Working with Dr. Gurd,
master's student Jasmine Ma created the series of four-minute activities that
students could complete in small spaces with no equipment.
FUNtervals involved
actively acting out tasks like "making s'mores" where students would
lunge to "collect firewood," "start the fire" by crouching
and exploding into a star jump and squatting and jumping to "roast the
marshmallows" to make the S'more. Each activity moves through a 20-second
storyline of quick, enthusiastic movements followed by 10 seconds of rest for
eight intervals.
This research was
published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.
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