Does Exercise Improve Student Motivation

Abstract

Physical activity has been associated with beneficial effects on cognitive brain function, attention, and alertness. Scharf and Payer (2018) found that teachers who incorporate movement and activity breaks into their daily classes, observed students who were more alert, focused and perform better academically. This study investigated the effect of classroom exercise on student motivation and focus during Health classes offered online due to pandemic regulations. The study was conducted over a 3-week period with 65 8th grade students during their Health classes. The students took part in 10 minutes of exercise at the start of class every other day. A checklist was completed by students on both exercise and non-exercise days to measure their motivation and focus levels. Mean ratings of focus and motivation, understanding of lessons and enjoyment of lessons were compared across exercise and non-exercise days using a t-tests for dependent samples. The results indicated showed that in this three-week study, 10 minutes of exercise before virtual health classes had no significant impact on students’ ratings of their focus and motivation, understanding or enjoyment of lessons, so all three null hypotheses were retained. Future research conducted in face-to-face settings or with modifications to the virtual lessons to encourage fuller participation might show more clearly how exercise in school can impact motivation, understanding and enjoyment of lessons.