Physical activity breaks improve learning

In college education, teachers often complain about growing concentration deficits and reduced attention (Budde et al, 2008), and helping students pay attention has become a concern among educators. However, there is much suggestion that the didactic lecture remains the primary instructional delivery method (Szpunar et al,2103) one where the student remains very passive and is required to sustain their attention for prolonged periods to understand learning material ((Lindquist & McLean, 2011) and one that reduces the students' attention within minutes (Szpunar et al (2103). As passive listeners students generally find it difficult to maintain a constant level of attention over extended periods (Bligh, 2000) which according to Bligh, (20000; Gibbs and Habeshaw,(1989) the nature of the traditional lecture means students are particularly liable to attentional problems. Research has suggested that attention degrades after between 10 and 30 minutes on task (Frederick, 1986; Horgan, 2003; Stuart and Rutherford, 1978) with many researchers advocating that the demands of any classroom should be changed every 10–15 minutes (Horgan, 2003; Wankat and Oreovicz, 2003), as this timeframe links to the attentional rates highlighted by Frederick, (1986); Horgan, (2003); Stuart and Rutherford, (1978). A simple form of change is to introduce micro-breaks into the classroom (Bligh, 2000; Frederick, 1986; Race and Brown, 1998). The ability to sustain attention to a task over seconds to minutes is a core cognitive function that has been mentioned by Kalechstein, et al (20013) plays a critical role in daily functioning and has been directly linked to academic and employment performance (Kalechstein et al, 2003; Lam & Beale, 1991) Research by Barkley, (19970; Sarter et al, (2001); Silver & Feldman, (2005) has also shown that numerous other cognitive processes, such as learning, memory, and executive functions, rely on sustained attention. According to McLean et al (2001), the concept of micro-breaks originates in ergonomics research and has been defined as scheduled rests that individuals take to prevent the onset or progression of physical symptoms, such as musculoskeletal pain or discomfort or psychological stress. Micro breaks are seen as a resource-replenishing strategy (Kim et al, 2017) with micro-breaks also being called work breaks, rest breaks, energy management strategies, recovery behaviours restorative activities, and mini-breaks (Scholz et al, 2019: Wendsche et al, 2106 and Almén et al, 2020). Taking a break is used to replenish energy to achieve goals and performance (Dijksterhuis et all, 2010) goals and performance according to Fan et al (2001) are the links that are ensured through attention. Micro breaks have been suggested to be related to the functioning of the three attention networks: alerting, guidance, and executive control (Posner and Rothbart, 2007) with research indicating that if the first two fluctuate on a momentary basis, executive control benefits from greater stability (Fan et al, 2001) as according to Hofmann et al (2008) it allows individuals to monitor their attentional focus. It has been suggested that due to the limited processing capacity of our attention system when the mind is occupied with these task-irrelevant thoughts, task-relevant information cannot be attended to or remembered (Engle, 2002). This in turn then disrupts learning and can result in poorer academic performance (Risko et al, 2012 Smallwood et al, 2007). Several meta‐analyses and numerous studies have shown that low to moderate physical exercise is accompanied by an acute increase in subjective vigour or energetic arousal (Reed & Ones, 2006; Steptoe & Cox, 1988; Thayer, 1987) as well as an improvement in mood (Yeung, 1996). The duration of physical exercise has not been established, however, the exercise of up from 5 to 15 min has the largest effect on positive activated affect (i.e., vigour) with 5 minutes being adopted with college research and 6–7‐minutes of physical activity as highlighted by Blasche et al (2017) when researching the duration of physical activity on fatigue and vigour with college-aged students. Interestingly Henning et al (1989) and Lee et al (2015) suggested that you can increase attendance rates and task performance with micro-breaks lasting as little as 27.4 seconds and 40-seconds respectively. This reflects the research by Henning et al (1997) and Lacaze et al (2010) who have highlighted that physical activities such as stretching and exercise were associated with increased positive emotions and decreased fatigue as well as relational activities, like socialising with friends also increased feelings of vitality According to Reed & Ones, (2006), the impact of exercise on mood is highest immediately following exercise and decreases thereafter, with effects on cognitive functioning still to be seen 30‐min post-exercise. Research has hypothesised several physiological and psychological mechanisms to explain the effect on attention. Firstly Paluska & Schwenk, (2000); Plante & Rodin, (1990) outlined the distraction hypothesis which suggests that physical exercise distracts from stressful thoughts, thereby improving mood and in turn vigilance, However, Dietrich, (2006); Herholz et al (1987) state that this hypothesis does not readily explain the observed effects of exercise on vigour and energetic arousal, but may be associated with the increase of brain activity occurring during physical exercise which according to Lim et al, 2012) may counterbalance the decrease in brain activity associated with fatigue. Secondary Paluska & Schwenk (2000) suggest that exercise may enhance the synaptic transmission of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine, or serotonin, thereby promoting arousal and attention. Thirdly it has been suggested that coordinative exercise is known to involve activation of the cerebellum which besides motor functions (Geo et al, 1996) influences neurobehavioral systems which include attention, and working memory (Klingberg, et al, 1996). According to Miller and Cohen (2001) the frontal lobes, especially the prefrontal areas, in the mediation of cognitive functions like executive control as well as motor coordination, and due to the neuronal structures responsible for coordination as well as cognition, it is hypothesized that coordinative exercise would lead to a general pre-activation of cognitive-related neuronal networks along with the higher the motor demand, the more prefrontal cortex activity is required during the execution of motor tasks would be more effective in improving the speed and accuracy of a concentration and attention task (Budde et al. 2008) Yours in classroom movement