“I Didn’t Know he Could do That” – How Active Learning Days can Boost Children’s Progress
Researchers at Leeds Beckett University set out to find out how physical activity can boost teaching and learning
“I didn’t know he could do that. He’s never done that in a maths lesson. He’s never shown that in his maths book.”
The words of a teacher from Durham, with whom we were co-delivering our prototype Tagtiv8 active learning programme. Similar phrases have since been echoed by teachers in schools around the UK during our Active Learning Days.
We know that something magical happens when teachers take their children outdoors to play with numbers and their Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) kicks in. The extra blood flow, oxygen and glucose to the brain improves learning abilities.
But what, exactly, is this something?
The research
With this in mind, we approached Andy Daly-Smith and fellow researchers at Leeds Beckett University to test out the active learning approach and assess whether the anecdotal evidence was true, and initial discussions reiterated the international research findings that lessons are the most inactive times in a child’s waking life.
So the of the tests was to evaluate the impact of Tagtiv8 maths lessons on both physical activity and maths performance.
At a primary school in Leeds, KS1 and 2 children were baseline tested before being randomly allocated to groups; taking part in either a seated classroom lesson or an active learning lesson.
“The results showed that pupils who took part in the active lesson achieved over nine minutes more MVPA compared to the traditional classroom lesson,” said Andy Daly-Smith. “And they also spent 15 minutes less in sedentary time.
“When it came to assessing whether active learning led to better academic outcomes we saw promising results,” Andy continues. “Overall, there were small improvements for pupils who learnt in an active way. Further, those pupils who were most active in the lessons seemed to have the greatest benefits, which suggests activity may play a key role in enhancing learning.
“Additionally, lower-ability children who took part in the active lesson maintained their academic performance, whereas similar pupils in the traditional classroom lesson saw performance decrease.”
What Next? – remaining challenges
The challenge now is to get the active learning message and evidence out there – to the decision-makers and practitioners in both education and health. Schools are incredibly busy places with time and money in short supply.
Like the headteacher in this video, once school leaders see the games in-situ with their learners, they ‘get it’, and realise that core subjects do not need to be taught or learned while sitting down.
This will help the Chief Medical Officer for England realise her aim of getting all children and young people sitting less and moving more by engaging in MVPA for at least 60 minutes every day.
“We would now like to seek funding to assess the impact of the Tagtiv8 active learning programme over a school year,” says Andy. “It would be great to see if small improvements accumulated over time could lead to substantial improvements in the longer term, especially for those who are most in need.”
To find out more about the research, the key findings and video visit the Leeds Beckett University website.
