The Effect of Focused Attention Span on Overall Academic Achievement
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2014-12
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Masters of Education
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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.