Abstract
Background:
There has been a worldwide decline in interest and achievement in mathematics in young people. Despite the extensive benefits of physical activity, the majority of children are not sufficiently active. Schools have the potential to arrest both concerns through innovative teaching that challenges and complements traditional approaches.
Material and methods:
The aim of this paper is to report student and teacher perceptions of the Encouraging Activity to Stimulate Young Minds program, a school-based physical activity integration intervention designed to enhance learning and engagement in mathematics and increase physical activity levels in children using movement-based learning experiences. Four classroom teachers were interviewed and 66 students participated in focus groups following the 6-week intervention.
Results:
The program provided positive experiences for teachers and students, both in terms of enjoyment and engagement, while ensuring high quality learning experiences.
Conclusions:
Embedding movement-based learning across mathematics, had a significant positive effect on children’s enjoyment and engagement without compromising the quality of learning.
License
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Type: Research Article
EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 13, Issue 6, June 2017, 1653-1673
https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.00690a
Publication date: 03 Apr 2017
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Article Downloads: 7006
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