Standing Breaks in Lectures Improve University Students’ Self-Perceived Physical, Mental, and Cognitive Condition

Abstract

While adolescents and adults should limit high levels of sedentary behavior, university students spend large amounts of time on sedentary activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of this prolonged sitting on students’ self-perceived physical, mental, and cognitive condition and to answer the question of whether simple standing breaks in lectures can help students improve these conditions and for example feel more concentrated, motivated, or less tense in class. A five-minute standing break was introduced using a designed presentation slide for one semester in five different 90-min lectures. In addition, an active break as well as an open break with no trigger were implemented in two further lectures to explicitly investigate the effects of a standing break. Before, during, and after the semester, the students were surveyed about their physical, mental, and cognitive condition (836 respondents at start, 634 during semester, and 528 at the end). To evaluate the practicality and acceptance of the standing break, lecturers were interviewed about their experience. At all survey time points, the standing break was highly accepted by the university students. About three quarters of the students felt a relaxation of the muscles in the neck and shoulder as well as in the back and the legs. More than three quarters perceived an increase in concentration, receptiveness and retentiveness, motivation, and well-being. Results of the statistical analysis indicate that a standing break as well as an active break are more effective than an open break to improve the self-perceived physical and psychological well-being of the university students. The increase in cognitive skills is reported by all groups, including the group who were offered open breaks. Hence, standing breaks in university lectures receive a high level of acceptance and practicability and have the potential to increase students’ physical, mental, and cognitive condition and contribute to students’ physical activity and health. While field research provides opportunities such as the testing of measures in the natural environment and producing real-life results relevant to the students and lecturers, it also imposes limitations as lecture settings differed, not all disturbances could be controlled, and the participation in the study might have led to social-desirability bias. For a sustainable development of a standing-friendly teaching and learning culture at universities, further interventions as well as the consideration of the topic in all processes and decisions within the universities are necessary. Since this study has taken place, student-life has changed drastically with COVID-19 measures. While this current paper is based on research conducted in 2019 and has only tested live lectures on campus, the tools tested could also be used for online lectures.

Trends of Active Learning in Higher Education and Students’ Well-Being: A Literature Review

“…The main goal is to empower students given their academic accomplishment, critical thinking skills, and social-emotional and contribute to their well-being ( Akinla et al, 2018 ; van der Zanden et al, 2018 ). In studies with German and Swedish students, Bälter et al (2018) and Paulus et al (2021) concluded that a sedentary lifestyle is detrimental to higher education students’ commitments and results, proposing breaks in academic activities with moments of physical activity ( Paulus et al, 2021 ), and holding seminars outside ( Bälter et al, 2018 ), an idea that we had already found in the review study by van der Zanden et al (2018) . These results put in evidence the necessity to include well-being in educational policies in schools.…”

“…The investigations were conducted in seven countries: three in Spain ( Díaz-Iso et al, 2020 ; Fernández et al, 2020 ; Luque-Suárez et al, 2021 ), two in the United Kingdom ( Mayew et al, 2020 ; Defeyter et al, 2021 ), and one in Germany ( Paulus et al, 2021 ), Taiwan ( Dutta et al, 2021 ), Israel ( Martin et al, 2020 ), the United States of America ( Vatovec and Ferrer, 2019 ), and Sweden ( Bälter et al, 2018 ). Most studies included students in higher education (as it was an inclusion criterion), however, Bälter et al’s (2018) investigation included also nine teachers.…”

“…Most studies included students in higher education (as it was an inclusion criterion), however, Bälter et al’s (2018) investigation included also nine teachers. Those students’ (and teachers’) scientific fields are distinct such as medicine ( Martin et al, 2020 ), engineering ( Bälter et al, 2018 ; Paulus et al, 2021 ), education ( Luque-Suárez et al, 2021 ), human health and the environment ( Vatovec and Ferrer, 2019 ). The remainder studies did not specify the scientific areas of the participants but stated that they belong to various areas, colleges, or universities.…”

“…Six of the authors’ approaches were fundamentally quantitative, with questionnaire searching as data collecting instrument ( Fernández et al, 2020 ; Mayew et al, 2020 ; Defeyter et al, 2021 ; Dutta et al, 2021 ; Luque-Suárez et al, 2021 ; Paulus et al, 2021 ), and four employed a mixed methods approach, where other instruments were used alongside the questionnaires, such as interviews ( Bälter et al, 2018 ; Díaz-Iso et al, 2020 ), life experiences ( Martin et al, 2020 ), and intervention reports ( Vatovec and Ferrer, 2019 ). Table 1 displays the results and provides an overview of the research found.…”

“…Attempting to link the research based on the methods used or advised to attain well-being, three articles link the feeling of well-being of students with the usage of (new) digital technologies ( Fernández et al, 2020 ; Mayew et al, 2020 ; Dutta et al, 2021 ); in two of them, well-being is associated with the practice of physical activity as a way to counteract a sedentary lifestyle, which is considered detrimental to individuals’ well-being ( Bälter et al, 2018 ; Paulus et al, 2021 ); and in two others, it is associated with the performance of volunteer work ( Díaz-Iso et al, 2020 ; Luque-Suárez et al, 2021 ). According to Thorburn (2020) , this kind of methodologies emphasize not only teacher’s agency but also students’ agency.…”