Embed 30-minute bouts of structured physical activity, especially open-skill team games, into primary-school routines to support short-term memory¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The authors recommend using ordinary school physical-education activities as cost-effective, learning-supportive interventions. They highlight that "an interesting aspect of this study is related to the use of an intermediate duration of exercise (i.e., 30 min)" and that this duration "turned out to be effective in children and may suggest that half an hour of targeted physical activity can be promising in terms of applicability to various school settings". Open-skill team games benefit both age groups; closed-skill circuits benefit older children.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Vigorous aerobic intensity (heart rates of 170–180 (±10) bpm monitored in the study)
• Group-based activity format, performed in a group context rather than individually

Constraints¶

• Effects were demonstrated only for 3rd and 4th grade children; the authors note future work should include older children and pre-adolescents, and that the duration of the benefit after the bout was not measured

Target Learners¶

• primary-school children aged 7–10 years, including typically developing children in regular classes

Target Learning Goals¶

• improving short-term memory (verbal, visuo-spatial, motor) as a foundation for academic performance

Affordances¶

• Baddeley Wm Model Gestural Buffer Extension

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Ottoboni Giovanni, Ceciliani Andrea, Tessari Alessia. (2021). The Effect of Structured Exercise on Short-Term Memory Subsystems: New Insight on Training Activities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147545