Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health, van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of Movement and Education, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, 8017 CA Zwolle, The Netherlands.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Jul 10;16(14):2452. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16142452.
There are tentative indications that physical activity (PA) during school time can be beneficial for children's academic performance. So far, most studies have focused on the effects of moderate-to-vigorous PA, for example, in the form of energizers or extra physical education lessons. Little is known about the effects of physically active learning, in which PA is integrated with the academic content of the lessons, especially in preadolescent children. Moreover, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the enjoyment of physically active learning in this age group. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to assess the effects of integrating juggling with math practice in primary school children, on (1) multiplication memorization performance and (2) enjoyment during the math lessons. We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial, in which 312 children (mean age 10.4 years) from nine Dutch primary schools participated. Fourteen classes were randomly assigned to either a group that learned juggling whilst practicing multiplication tables (intervention group), or to a group that practiced the same multiplication tables while sedentary (control group). Both interventions had a duration of 5 weeks and consisted of 20 short lessons (4 lessons per week, 5 to 8 min). We used mixed-model analyses to examine the effect of the intervention on multiplication memorization performance. Group (control or intervention) was used as the fixed factor, and class and school as random intercepts. Analyses were adjusted for pretest multiplication performance, age, gender, general motor skill level, physical activity behavior (PAQ-C), and academic math performance. No significant intervention effect on multiplication performance were observed. However, the math-juggling program significantly increased enjoyment of children during the math lessons. We can conclude that the intervention did not improve, but neither deteriorated children's math performance. The increased enjoyment in the math-juggling group can serve as an important starting point for structurally incorporating physical activities in the classroom setting.
有初步迹象表明，在校期间进行身体活动（PA）可能对儿童的学业成绩有益。到目前为止，大多数研究都集中在中等至剧烈强度身体活动的影响上，例如，以活力操或额外的体育课的形式。对于身体活动学习的影响，即身体活动与课程的学术内容相结合，知之甚少，尤其是在青春期前的儿童中。此外，对于这一年龄组对身体活动学习的享受程度也缺乏了解。因此，本研究旨在评估将杂耍与小学数学练习相结合对小学生的影响，（1）乘法记忆表现，（2）在数学课上的享受程度。我们进行了一项集群随机对照试验，其中来自 9 所荷兰小学的 312 名儿童（平均年龄为 10.4 岁）参与了该试验。14 个班级被随机分配到以下两个组之一：学习杂耍同时练习乘法表的组（干预组），或练习相同乘法表但保持坐姿的组（对照组）。两个干预组的持续时间均为 5 周，共包括 20 个短课（每周 4 节课，每节课 5-8 分钟）。我们使用混合模型分析来检验干预对乘法记忆表现的影响。组（对照组或干预组）作为固定因素，班级和学校作为随机截距。分析调整了预测试乘法表现、年龄、性别、一般运动技能水平、身体活动行为（PAQ-C）和学业数学表现。未观察到干预对乘法表现有显著影响。然而，数学杂耍计划显著增加了儿童在数学课上的享受程度。我们可以得出结论，干预既没有提高也没有降低儿童的数学表现。数学杂耍组的享受程度增加可以作为在课堂环境中结构性地纳入身体活动的重要起点。
