The Effect of Focused Attention Span on Overall Academic Achievement
Author/Creator
Date
2014-12Type of Work
25 p.Text
action research papers
Program
Masters of EducationRights
Collection may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. To obtain information or permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Goucher Special Collections & Archives at 410-337-6347 or email archives@goucher.edu.Subjects
Education -- Research papers (Graduate)Attention in children -- Research
Academic achievement -- Research
First grade (Education) -- Research
Abstract
This study focused on the effect of in-class exercise prior to a lesson on first graders’
attention span. The null hypothesis was that exercise would not significantly alter the
student’s ability to maintain a longer attention span during the subsequent lesson. The
subjects in this study were eight first grade students, six boys and two girls. Four of the
boys were Caucasian; two were African American. One of the girls was Caucasian and
the other was African American. Tallies were used to collect data through in-class
observation of predetermined “off-task” behaviors, including calling out, getting out of
their seat, talking to a neighbor, etc. Data was then compared between the lesson
observed following a class-led exercise break and the lesson observed without exercise
implemented at any point. The null hypothesis was rejected and the findings concluded
that class-led exercise prior to a lesson did significantly reduce students’ observed “offtask”
behaviors.