The effects of physical activity on third grade math scores CBSE 7202 Malia Jabeen Professor O’Connor

Statement of the problem Children in elementary school do not receive enough time to exercise. They are verbally taught for long hours with little to no movement. It is now that young children receive two days out of a week to exercise (gym class) The problem is that children in schools need more time for physical exercise which in turn develops a stronger relationship between the mind and body and therefore develop deeper understanding of complex ideas and concepts.

Methods Participants The participants in this Action Research Project are 10 3rd grade students in high functioning urban public school x who are identified by the teacher as needing math support. Participants are both male and female and range in age from 7 to 8 years of age. Classroom populations is racially diverse. 2 African American/Black students 2 Latino 1 Caucasian 4 Asian 1 South Asian students.

Experimental design One-Group Pre-test Post-test Design. OXO Pre-experimental design: This action research will focus on how exercise can increase math test scores. This study will take place with 10 students in a mainstream classroom setting. My research design is based on a pre-test, intervention and post-test. After comparing the pre- test and post-test I will be able to determine whether or not exercise has an effect on cognitive ability primarily in math. Symbolic design OXO One-Group Pre-test Post-test Design. pre-test (o) Variable (x) Post-test (o)

Variables Independent Variables: Have children exercise 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after math class. Dependent Variable: Scores in math tests. Participants: In this research project, the participants will be a group of 10 randomly chosen students from a group that needs a little more support in learning math skills and concepts. They are between the ages of 8 to 9 years old, and in a third grade class. Instruments: Math lesson, consent forms, tests, and a table of records. 1) The Pre-test will be given before the concept skill is taught to get a better understanding of what the children know and where they are. 2) The Post-test that will be given will be the same as the pre-test. This is to see if the students have mastered the topic after it is taught.  

Threats to internal Validity History: may be a threat to validity. A student may have test anxiety, they may be distracted by a noise in the hall or they may be ill. Maturation: Maturation will not be a threat to the validity to this study because all of the participants are of the same age and the research will only last for four weeks. Instrumentation: There may be a slight threat to the validity even though the instruments used will remain the same. There might be changes in observers or scorers that may produce changes in the outcomes. Mortality: The chances of the students quitting the experiment are limited. However some students may be absent during testing dates.

Threats to external validity Pretest Treatment: A pretest treatment might be a slight threat to the validity because it might increase or decrease a child’s responsiveness to the experimental variable. Selection Treatment Interaction: The selection of the participants may be a threat because we are choosing children who need help with math skills and may not know how below they are from grade level.   Multiple Treatments: This might be a threat because the participants may receive other treatments/interventions in the form of Title I Math, help from home, or from an after-school enrichment program. If other or multiple treatments are given to the same participant, it can be difficult to control the effects of the research intervention.

Instruments: Consent forms Principal Teacher Parental Surveys Math test pre and post (Assessment)

Sample survey preferences Strongly Agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 How important do you think it is to wake up early? _______ How often do you walk to school? _______ I exercise at least 3 times per week. _______ I watch TV every day for more than 2 hours. _______ It is easy for me to pay attention when the teacher is teaching math. _______ Math is very easy. _______ I always get above an 80 on my Math tests. _______ I take extra time reading word problems. _______ I choose to play outside with my friends over video games. _______ Math is fun. _______

Frequencies Never (0) Rarely (1-2) Sometimes (3-4) Often (5-6) Always 1.How many hours a week do you watch TV, games, movies, etc. 30min 1 2 3 4 5 6 2. How many hours a week do you do math problems? 30min 1 2 3 4 5 6 3. . About how many hours do you exercise per day? 20 min 30 min 1hr 2hr 3hrs 4hrs 5hrs  4. About how many hours do you sleep each night? 4hrs or fewer 5-6hrs 7-8hrs 9hrs or more Never (0) Rarely (1-2) Sometimes (3-4) Often (5-6) Always (7) How often do you need help with your math homework? _______ How often do you understand the math in school ? _________

Demographics data Demographic Statistics Race graph This chart shows the racial breakdown of the classroom

Gender and age graph Breaks down sex of class Shows the age of the students

Frequency survey results Average number of hours is 3 hours per day. 21 hours a week.

Exercise frequency Average amount of exercise each day .605

Correlation between time spent exercising and pre-test scores y 0.2 65 1.5 85 0.5 70 0.25 1 75 80 90 Mean 86.5 Median 87.5 Correl 0.632971 Brief Analysis: This data shows a strong positive correlation (0.632) between the hours a student exercise and the students’ math pre test scores. In this graph we can see that the amount of time a student exercise may contribute to higher math test scores.

Pre-test and post-test results x y student 1 65 75 student 2 85 90 student 3 70 student 4 95 student 5 student 6 80 student 7 student 8 student 9 student 10 Mean 86.5 Median 87.5 80 Brief analysis: We can see by these results that students did slightly better after receiving the hour of exercise. According to this data all students improved in their math scores.