Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations.
Sustaining attention in today’s elementary classrooms is increasingly challenging for elementary-age students. Long sedentary instruction, a demanding curriculum, and reduction in recess time can negatively impact children’s attention. OT practitioners can combat these issues by providing brief and effective student-centered classroom breaks focusing on physical exercise and mindfulness.
Primary Author and Speaker: Jessica Swanson
PURPOSE: The ability to attend is an essential skill that impacts all aspects of life. Attention within the classroom is required for learning. Separately both physical activity and mindfulness have been shown to improve attention in academic settings in more prolonged bouts of exposure (Watson, Timperio, Brown, Best, & Hesketh, 2017; Zoogman, Goldberg, Hoyt, & Miller, 2015). This study aimed at assessing the impact of integrating FUNterval’s brief physical activity (Ma, Sures, & Gurd, 2014) and mindfulness strategies on students’ attention and on-task behavior.
DESIGN: A quasi-experimental design was chosen to determine the impact of the intervention on the participants’ attention. The participants were fifth-grade students in two classrooms at a rural school district in Western New York State. Recruitment flyers were sent home to gauge interest in the program. The researcher collected parental consent and student assent. An institutional review board approved the study.
METHODS: Thirty-three students, 16 males, and 17 females with a mean age of 10 years and five months, participated in the guided interventions. The interventions were conducted daily for six weeks. Observations of attention were performed using momentary time sampling data collection. Pre and post-intervention observations were completed once per week for six consecutive weeks. All pre-intervention and post-intervention data points were analyzed to determine the percent change.
RESULTS: The results obtained support the hypothesis that students’ attention can be improved using brief classroom breaks that integrate movement and mindfulness. There was a 41% cumulative mean increase in attention post-intervention. Pre-intervention attention was at 62%, and post-intervention attention was at 88% based on observational data. Statistically significant results were indicated through a t-test (paired t-test = 2.57, p = .0003). Results also showed that students who fell into the lowest quartile of pre-intervention attention improved at a higher rate than those in the top three quartiles of pre-intervention attention. There was a 51% difference between these groups of students.
CONCLUSION: This study provides therapy practitioners and educators with an easy-to-use, established, evidence-based program that promotes student attention with minimal use of classroom time. The results show that all students’ attention benefits from incorporating physical activity and mindfulness into daily practice.
IMPACT STATEMENT: Occupational therapy practitioners are called upon in school-based settings to develop comprehensive initiatives to support the student body to achieve optimal academic and occupational performance. This program can easily be adapted for every grade level.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA]. (2017). Guidelines for occupational therapy services in early intervention and schools. American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 71(Suppl. 2), 7112410010. http://doi.org/10.5014/a jot.2017.716S01
Ma, J. K., Sures, S., & Gurd, B. J. (2015). FUNtervals: fit breaks in fewer than five!, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 86(8), 50-52. http://www.doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2015.1076647
Watson, A., Timperio, A., Brown, H., Best, K., & Hesketh, K, D. (2017). Effect of classroom- based physical activity interventions on academic and physical activity outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14, 1-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0569-9
Zoogman, S., Goldberg, S. B., Hoyt, W. T., & Miller, L. (2015). Mindfulness interventions with youth: A meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 6(2), 290-302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-013- 0260-4
