- Title
- Embodied learning in the classroom: effects on primary school children's attention and foreign language vocabulary learning
- Creator
- Schmidt, Mirko; Benzing, Valentin; Wallman-Jones, Amie; Mavilidi, Myrto-Foteini; Lubans, David Revalds; Paas, Fred
- Relation
- Psychology of Sport and Exercise Vol. 43, Issue July 2019, p. 45-54
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.12.017
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2019
- Description
- Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of specifically designed physical activities on primary school children's foreign language vocabulary learning and attentional performance. Design: A total of 104 children aged between 8 and 10 years were assigned to either (a) an embodied learning condition consisting of task-relevant physical activities, (b) a physical activity condition involving task-irrelevant physical activities, or (c) a control condition consisting of a sedentary teaching style. Within a 2-week teaching program, consisting of four learning sessions, children had to learn 20 foreign language words. Method: Children were tested on their memory performance (cued recall test) after completion of the program and on their focused attention (d2-R test of attention) immediately after one learning session. Results: Linear mixed model analyses revealed both the embodied learning (d = 1.12) and the physical activity condition (d = 0.51) as being more effective in teaching children new words than the control condition. Children's focused attention, however, did not differ between the three conditions. Conclusions: The results are discussed in the light of embodied cognition and cognitive load theory. Implications for the inclusion of specific physical activities during the school day are proposed.
- Subject
- exercise; integrated physical activity; intervention; embodied cognition; acute physical activity; chronic physical activity; SDG 4; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1404597
- Identifier
- uon:35370
- Identifier
- ISSN:1469-0292
- Rights
- © 2019. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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