Physical activity improves academic grades

According to Sievertsena et al (2105) taking breaks allow students to recharge their mental resources, with benefits for their test scores with these researchers basing their predications upon the psychological research on cognitive fatigue, an increasingly common human condition that results from a sustained cognitive engagement that according to Mullette-Gillman et al (2015) adds a high burden upon the individuals’ mental resources. Constant and persistent cognitive fatigue has been shown to lead to poor academic performance concerning grades and tests as it impacts a learner’s judgments and decisions. (Demerout et al 2001). A study by Fenesi et al (2018) looked at 77 undergraduate students at McMaster University enrolled in an Introductory Psychology course with 78% females and 22% males aged between 18–22 years of age. Participants were randomly assigned to exercise breaks (N= 26), non-exercise breaks (N= 23), or no breaks (N= 28). For all groups, three 5-minute breaks were distributed approximately every 17 min. Participants in the no breaks group watched the lecture continuously without a break. The exercise breaks consisted of five 50-s experimenter-led callisthenic exercises (jumping jacks, heeltaps, high knees, split jumps, and hamstring kickers) separated by a 10-s rest. The non-exercise breaks consisted of playing the computer game. A mind wandering question was presented before each break or at a similar time point in the lecture for the no breaks group. Learning was assessed by a comprehension test that was administered immediately after the lecture as well as a lecture perceptions questionnaire which was administered immediately after the learning assessment. The test questions were drawn from the Introductory Psychology course test bank. Fensi et al (2018) remarked that their findings highlighted that the present study demonstrates the benefits of exercise breaks on attention and learning using authentic course materials with university students. Incorporating exercise breaks improved on-task attention and memory for lecture material compared to non-exercise breaks or no breaks. Furthermore, subjective perception ratings suggest that learners who received exercise breaks found the lecturer and lecture material easier to understand than learners who received no breaks. Ensi et al (2018) suggest that this was the first study to demonstrate the benefits of exercise breaks on the improved learning of lecture martial that have been shown in older students. Jenson et al (2014) have suggested the improvement of the academic score via tests when participating in a form of physical activity in the classroom has seen constant positive findings among elementary school children. Ma et al (2014) stated that an important difference is that children’s off-task behaviour is typically more overt through actions such as fidgeting whereas adult learner who is more accustomed to proper classroom etiquette, however, despite the age differences these results suggest that exercise breaks improved learning of lecture material.is seen in young and older students. One reason for this improvement in learning the lecture martial has been hypothesised by McEwen (2017) who suggests the HPA activation hypothesis that suggests with that exercise-induced arousal facilitates the release of stress hormones known to improve attention and memory The study by Fensi et al (2018) shows the connections between brain and body physiology and how they integrate for better and more complex cognitive functions. This is highlighted in the Fensi et al (2018) study as when they carried out Spearman’s correlations it showed that physiological arousal was associated with both on-task attention at the end of the lecture and learning as assessed by both immediate and delayed tests. A study by McGinley (2011) examined the effect of breaks, with mental and physical activity, on learning. It is predicted that participants will perform better on a cognitive task with a break included and that a break involving physical activity will produce better results than just a mental break. Seventy students from the psychology classes at Midwestern University were used for this study. The students were aged 18-35 and comprised 38 females and 32 males. There were three conditions to which participants were randomly assigned based on the timeslot. Condition 1 was given 20 minutes to study and then another 15 minutes to complete the test sheet with no break at all. Condition 2 was a mental break condition with each participant given an initial 10 minutes to study, followed by a 10-minute break period in which they were given puzzles to work on as a group, followed by another 10 minutes to study, and then finally another 15 minutes to complete the test sheet. Condition 3 was the same as condition 2 except that in the 10-minute break, the group played a beanbag toss game. The basic task involved a study sheet with a list of 60 phobias and their definitions. Participants were then given a test sheet that included all 60 of the phobias, but only 45 of the definitions to be matched. For the mental break condition, a 46-piece Mattel my size XL floor puzzle was used first, and if the participants finished that puzzle, a 32-piece Hasbro kid-size floor puzzle was used to occupy the 10-minute break period. The physical break condition used a beanbag that was tossed around to occupy the 10-minute break period. McGinley (20122) concluded that the hypothesis he set put, that study breaks enhance learning was only half supported as those participants who carried out the mental break condition had significantly higher scores on the phobia definition test than did condition and the results for those in the physical break condition, number 3 were about the same as the first condition of no breaks. One conclusion given by McGinly (2011) is all breaks do not seem to be created equally and a simple change in the mental task seems to be enough of a break to produce cognitive benefits, and that breaks that are too absorbing, like the bean bag toss condition three and that a high level of distractions related to a physical activity beak may be detrimental to the learner and the material to be learned after the event. This was enhanced when McGinley (2011) stated a partial explanation for this may come from an observation made by the experimenter that the men seemed to be much more competitive in the distraction task than the women, especially in the bean bag hot potato game. Perhaps men got so much more into the distraction task that it interfered with learning. One very competitive male participant observed during the hot potato game stated that when he sat back down toss study for the second 10-minute interval that he did not want to study anymore because he could not concentrate after playing the game.