The Effect of Focused Attention Span on Overall Academic Achievement

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.