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A citizen science study of short physical activity breaks at school: improvements in cognition and wellbeing with self-paced activity.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:School-based physical activity and running programmes, such as The Daily Mile™, are increasing in popularity globally. The aim of this research was to examine the acute impact of such classroom physical activity breaks on cognition and affective wellbeing. METHODS:A total of 5463 school pupils from 332 schools took part in a citizen science project with a repeated measures design. They completed tasks of cognition (inhibition, verbal, and visuo-spatial working memory) and the Children's Feeling Scale and Felt Arousal Scale before and after three different outdoor activities: a classroom break of 15?min of self-paced activity, a near maximal exhaustion activity (the bleep test), and a no-exercise control group where pupils sat or stood outside. Wellbeing and fitness were examined as mediators of the relationship between outdoor activity and cognition. RESULTS:Fifteen minutes of self-paced outdoor activity was beneficial for pupils' cognition and wellbeing in comparison to both other activities (Cohen's d effect sizes ranging from 0.04 to 0.22; small). The relationship with cognition was not mediated by participants' fitness level and was only partially mediated by wellbeing. Change scores for alertness were higher after the bleep test compared to the control activity but similar for all other outcomes. CONCLUSIONS:Taking a break from the classroom to complete 15?min of self-paced physical activity should be considered a worthwhile activity by class teachers, school management, and policymakers. Additionally, more intense physical activity should not be considered to be detrimental.

SUBMITTER: Booth JN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7077117 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A citizen science study of short physical activity breaks at school: improvements in cognition and wellbeing with self-paced activity.

Booth Josephine N JN Chesham Ross A RA Brooks Naomi E NE Gorely Trish T Moran Colin N CN

BMC medicine 20200317 1

<h4>Background</h4>School-based physical activity and running programmes, such as The Daily Mile™, are increasing in popularity globally. The aim of this research was to examine the acute impact of such classroom physical activity breaks on cognition and affective wellbeing.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 5463 school pupils from 332 schools took part in a citizen science project with a repeated measures design. They completed tasks of cognition (inhibition, verbal, and visuo-spatial working memory) a ...[more]

PMID: 32178667

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Project description:The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted educational systems worldwide during 2020, including primary and secondary schooling. To enable students of a local secondary school in Brisbane, Queensland, to continue with their practical agricultural science learning and facilitate online learning, a "Grass Gazers" citizen science scoping project was designed and rapidly implemented as a collaboration between the school and a multidisciplinary university research group focused on pollen allergy. Here, we reflect on the process of developing and implementing this project from the perspective of the school and the university. A learning package including modules on pollen identification, tracking grass species, measuring field greenness, using a citizen science data entry platform, forensic palynology, as well as video guides, risk assessment and feedback forms were generated. Junior agriculture science students participated in the learning via online lessons and independent data collection in their own local neighborhood and/or school grounds situated within urban environments. The university research group and school coordinator, operating in their own distributed work environments, had to develop, source, adopt, and/or adapt material rapidly to meet the unique requirements of the project. The experience allowed two-way knowledge exchange between the secondary and tertiary education sectors. Participating students were introduced to real-world research and were able to engage in outdoor learning during a time when online, indoor, desk-based learning dominated their studies. The unique context of restrictions imposed by the social isolation policies, as well as government Public Health and Department of Education directives, allowed the team to respond by adapting teaching and research activity to develop and trial learning modules and citizen science tools. The project provided a focus to motivate and connect teachers, academic staff, and school students during a difficult circumstance. Extension of this citizen project for the purposes of research and secondary school learning has the potential to offer ongoing benefits for grassland ecology data acquisition and student exposure to real-world science.

Dataset Information

A citizen science study of short physical activity breaks at school: improvements in cognition and wellbeing with self-paced activity.

Publications

A citizen science study of short physical activity breaks at school: improvements in cognition and wellbeing with self-paced activity.

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