Does integrating physical activity in the elementary school classroom influence academic motivation?

Abstract

Integrating physical activity (PA) in the classroom is a promising avenue for youth to increase their PA levels and academic achievement. However, research on its role in children's academic motivation is limited. Intrinsic motivation is important because it predicts both academic achievement and physical activity participation. The purpose was to examine the effect of PA integrated with academic lessons compared to traditional lessons on children's academic motivation. A total of 147 4th to 6th grade students (64 male, 83 female) from 15 classes participated. The intervention included six consecutive lessons over a two-week period on an academic subject (Language Arts, Math, Social Studies), alternating between traditional (1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th; control) and integrated with PA (10 min) lessons in the classroom (3rd and 5th). The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was used to assess students' Interest/Enjoyment, Perceived Competence, Effort, Value, and Pressure. After checking for non-significant interactions with gender, age, and academic subject, repeated-measure ANOVAs were conducted. Interest/Enjoyment significantly decreased after the traditional lessons (4th and 6th, F = 3.80, F = 4.18, respectively, p < 0.05) and increased significantly after the second integrated lesson (5th, F = 7.26, p < 0.01). Perceived Competence and Effort significantly increased after the integrated lesson (F = 4.87, F = 5.03, respectively, p < 0.05), whereas neither the Perceived Value of the lesson declined nor did children report feelings of Pressure from this alternative teaching method. This research showed that PA integrated with the academic subjects can positively impact children's academic motivation.

Linking Physical Activity with Academics: Strategies for Integration

“…Motivation for students who dislike the core curriculum may be reversed with the incorporation of "things we do during physical education" and may merge two different student interests. It has also been shown that academic intrinsic motivation and achievement are increased when specifically infused with movement (Vazou, Gavrilou, Mamalaki, Papanastasiou, & Sioumala, 2012).…”

Moving and Academic Learning Are Not Antagonists: Acute Effects on Executive Function and Enjoyment

“…Interventions that include activity breaks in the academic classroom have also demonstrated promising acute effects related to cognitive performance (Hill et al, 2010), concentration and on-task behavior (Grieco, Jowers, & Bartholomew, 2009), and students' motivation (Vazou, Gavrilou, Mamalaki, Papanastasiou, & Sioumala, 2012), all of which are crucial contributors to school success. In general, reviews on the relationship between activity breaks with aspects of academic performance show that activity breaks either have positive effects or do not adversely impact cognitive function and academic performance (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010; Bartholomew & Jowers, 2011).…”

Physically Active Math and Language Lessons Improve Academic Achievement: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Recently, programs have been developed that incorporate physical activity into the teaching of academic lesson content. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The majority of the studies focused on short-term, immediate effects and showed that children's academic engagement, 1,4,5 academic motivation, 6 and executive functioning 7 were enhanced shortly after physically active academic lessons. Effects of prolonged intervention periods are largely unknown.…”