Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Breyanna Koopman
Abstract
Physical activity used to be a mandatory part of the school day for most students in the
K–12 education system; however, it has become increasingly less important in the eyes of school
employees. Schools want to focus more time on academics and do not see exercise as a valuable
use of their time. The overall essence of the eight articles was that physical activity positively
effects academic achievement in elementary school students through improved test scores and
concentration and memory. It is imperative that Physical Education plays an active role within
each school and that the students are given their allotted recess time, totaling at least up to the
behavior
LITERATURE REVIEW 3
The health benefits that stem from regular physical activity is well-known and has been
extensively researched. What is not well-known, however, is the relation between physical
activity and academic achievement. The overall trend in the literature is that there is a positive
correlation between physical activity and academic achievement. Physical activity is any
movement of the body that exerts energy. Academic achievement, as measured in the studies
refers to good or improving grades, passing standardized tests, and retaining and recalling
learned information. More and more, schools are removing Physical Education and cutting
recess time shorter in order to allow for more time to be spent on academics inside the
classrooms because of increased pressure to raise schoolwide test scores. Consequently, students
are not getting the recommended 60 minutes a day of exercise. Most children, especially
elementary school aged, are enrolled in school which makes school the ideal environment to
implement physical activity. Teachers and school administrators should make physical activity
during school hours not only mandatory on a daily basis, but also a high priority because of its
Hartman, Greeff, Bosker, Doolaard, and Visscher (2015) found that student participants
considerably improved their math, spelling, and reading scores after being involved in regular
physical activity through their school. The intervention groups that had physical activity
integrated throughout their school day scored significantly higher on both mathematics and
reading in comparison to the control group that did not receive any additional exercise. The
physically active academic lessons vastly improved the academic achievement for the
intervention students.
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Amin, Wright, Boulos, Chomitz, Chui, Economos, and Sacheck (2017) found differences
in standardized test scores between lower-income students and middle-class students. According
to page 935 of the article, “for lower-income children, an environment conducive to being active
may translate into academic success and those additional resources in this domain may not play a
critical role for middle-income children.” Lower-income children showed a large improvement
in Math and English, whereas middle-class students only showed significant progress in Math.
Both groups showed improvements in their test scores before, after, and during the intervention;
Through the study of children from ages nine to eleven by Dumuid, Olds, Martín-
Fernández, Lewis, Cassidy, and Maher (2017), four lifestyle groups were identified: food
screenies, all-rounders, actives, and sitters. The screenies, which consisted of children who had
the highest screen time, moderate physical activity, and the unhealthiest diet, performed the
lowest academically of all the groups. The all-rounders, the largest portion of the children,
which had the healthiest diet, moderate physical activity, and the lowest amount of screen time,
was the highest academic performance. According to Dumuid, Olds, Martín-Fernández, Lewis,
combination of unhealthy diets and high screen behaviors…short sleep, low [physical
This journal differs from the rest by saying that it is a combination of those things that allows the
student to have poor academic performance, rather than just the lack of physical activity.
Improved Behavior
the classroom. Some short-term effects elementary school children experience as a result of
LITERATURE REVIEW 5
Hartman, Greeff, Bosker, Doolaard, & Visscher, 2015, p. 366). Mullender-Wijnsma, Hartman,
Greeff, Bosker, Doolaard, and Visscher (2015, p. 369) found, through their study, that after the
students were involved in physical activity, they remained on-task 73% of the time. Through the
research done by Mahar, Murphy, Rowe, Golden, Shields, and Raedeke (2006, p. 2086), they
concluded that physical exertion also results in less fidgeting in the classroom and become more
attentive. At least half of the behavior issues in elementary school are due to students being off-
task and consequently getting other students off-task and eventually disrupts the entire class.
These studies have proven that after integrating some kind of physical activity into the school
day, it eliminates most of the misbehaviors that tend to occur often in the classroom. This allows
for more learning to take place with less distractions and is extremely beneficial to classroom
Erwin, Fedewa, and Ahn, (2012) also discovered that students who participated in
likely to enhance children’s’ ability to learn” (p. 474). Having high self-esteem and self-worth
allows students to be confident in themselves and encourages them to try harder when things are
difficult. They will not shy away from challenges but will be more likely to attack them head on.
If students feel like they belong in their school and classroom environment, then they will be
more comfortable and will be free to be their authentic selves, which greatly influences academic
functions. Mcclelland, Pitt, and Stein (2014) talk about the previous misconception that human
LITERATURE REVIEW 6
thinking and cognition used to be thought of like the operation of the computer. “Thinking skills
were overwhelmingly seen as conscious, deliberate and rational” (Mcclelland, Pitt, & Stein, p.
84). Now, people use the embodied cognition model in which thinking is now seen as dependent
on the body. The main source of the improvements in cognition come from the hippocampus.
The hippocampus is necessary for episodic memory…it serves as the hub of a network
involving prefrontal and parietal regions that supports effective learning strategies, which
The hippocampus also is responsible for supporting flexible cognition, which includes problem
solving and critical thinking. During childhood and early adolescence, the hippocampus is still
developing. Because a big part of students’ academic success is determined by their ability to
memorize and recall what they were taught, hippocampal health is very important. Physical
activity increases the rate of hippocampal neurogenesis and upregulation which will offset any
The theory of brain-based learning suggests that “moderate to vigorous physical activity
stimulates…immediate chemical changes in the brain that increases attention and may enhance
2015, p. 365). Regular moderate to vigorous physical activity leads to increased activity in the
prefrontal cortex which is responsible for cognitive control. “Combining learning with physical
activity is an easy way to invest in both academic exercise and physical activity. The
combination saves time because teachers do not have to choose between academic instruction
and (extra) physical education…an interaction between aerobic physical activity and cognitive
All of the findings that were made throughout the different journals were explained in
detail and they were accurately supported and defended. The research took place in different
countries throughout the world and the participants were of different races and ethnicities and
from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The research behind the conclusions were
convincing based on the methods that they used and the limitations that they openly
expressed. As far as limitations are concerned, the common notion was that there was not
enough research done on physical activity and its academic implications to have a single, finite
answer. All of the articles agreed that further investigation was needed. Another limitation was
the sample size. The sample size ranged between thirty participants to around three
hundred. Typically, the optimal sample size is at least around five hundred participants to be
able to accurately generalize about a population based on the results. Something else worth
mentioning is that some of the reporting of scores and behaviors were self-reporting that was
done by the teachers. Even though the researchers assure that they were honest, there is a
possibility that the teachers were not 100% truthful in their reports. The final limitation was that
the participants were all elementary school students. All the benefits that were found can only be
applicable to that age group because that was the focus of all the studies.
Elementary school students are already given mandated recess time, perhaps even
Physical Education depending on the school, the schools might as well use that time
productively. The suggested sixty minutes are meant to be about more than just running around.
Teachers can use that time to introduce their students to new sports, games, activities that they
would otherwise never be exposed to. Even adding just five more minutes of recess or Physical
Education each day can make a huge difference in the academic achievement of the kids.
Physical activity does not take up additional class time, or it does not take up that much
additional time away from academics. Teachers can easily implement elements of physical
LITERATURE REVIEW 8
activity within a core subject lesson. Like we have learned in this class, there are no fixed
learning styles, so incorporating different elements of multiple intelligences and learning styles
will help all kids in the classroom, not just the ones that personally identify with those types, i.e.
kinesthetic learners. It also engages the students because it is different from the traditional
format of the classroom; it may stand out to them and make the lesson more memorable. Not to
mention, a constructive way to exert the students’ energy and “get the wiggles out”. Finally, the
schools can create before and after school programs that are centered around physical activity
and are offered to everyone at very little to no additional cost to the schools. Through the
research of the eight articles, physical activity was proven to improve test scores, cognitive
functions, and overall classroom behavior. It is important to understand the positive correlation
that physical activity has with academic achievement, in order to best serve the students and the
References
Amin, S. A., Wright, C. M., Boulos, R., Chomitz, V. R., Chui, K., Economos, C. D., & Sacheck,
doi:10.1111/josh.12569
Burns, R. D., Brusseau, T. A., & Hannon, J. C. (2017). Effect of Comprehensive School Physical
doi:10.1123/jpah.2016-0691
Dumuid, D., Olds, T., Martín-Fernández, J., Lewis, L. K., Cassidy, L., & Maher, C. (2017).
Erwin, H., Fedewa, A., & Ahn, S. (2012). Student Academic Performance Outcomes of a
Hassevoort, K. M., Khan, N. A., Hillman, C. H., & Cohen, N. J. (2016). Childhood Markers of
Mcclelland, E., Pitt, A., & Stein, J. (2014). Enhanced academic performance using a novel
doi:10.1177/1365480214562125
Mullender-Wijnsma, M. J., Hartman, E., Greeff, J. W., Bosker, R. J., Doolaard, S., & Visscher,
LITERATURE REVIEW 10
365-371. doi:10.1111/josh.12259
Mahar, M. T., Murphy, S. K., Rowe, D. A., Golden, J., Shields, A. T., & Raedeke, T. D. (2006).