THE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON STUDYING By Kerry Jannergren, Ashley Bolognese and Joyce Mudymba

Problem Because time management is an important issue for grad students, our research project sought to find suggestions for making the most productive use of their time in regards to studying and exercise. Research Question: Does 30 minute of physical activity affect concentration and memory, if so is it beneficial or detrimental?

Hypotheses Research Hypothesis: 30 minute of physical activity before studying will result in higher levels of concentration than more sedentary activities will. Null Hypothesis: 30 minute of physical activity before studying will not result in higher levels of concentration than more sedentary activities will.

Consent Forms Received Samples Our sample pool were students from EDU 738. The two valid results were female grad students Consent Forms Received 4 Results Received 3 Valid Results Used in Analysis 2

Design Experimental Study Independent Variable: 30 minute walk Dependent Variable: Scores on the free recall and letter cancelation test

Procedures As researchers, we had to deviate from our original plan. We decided to have each person take the test at their own convenience with a proctor. Each participant had completed a timed word cancellation test and a timed free recall test which was administered before and after the 30 minute walk. The free recall test measured memory and the word cancellation test measured concentration. Due to the nature of the online course many students were no available to travel to campus for the researchers to administer the experiment The participant submitted the contact information for their chosen proctors for the researchers to contact with instructions on how to administer the tasks.

Instruments Free Recall Task Participants had 90 second to study the word list and 90 second to recall as many words as possible This task was used to measure memory

Instruments Letter Cancellation Task Participants were given 90 second to cross out all the A,H,L,P, S from the list below This task measured concentration

Results The proctors submitted the results to the researchers for analysis. Here are the results: Word Recall Letter Cancellation Participant Before After #1 10 12 #2 15 20 Participant Before After #1 35 34 #2

Implications This was a learning experience of what not to do in research. There were several areas of improvement to be considered for future researchers. Results would be more valuable with a higher rate of volunteer participants than we had. It will also be helpful in the future for the researchers to train the proctors to make sure instructions were clear. Finally, instead of receiving the results via e-mail, a program such as survey monkey will better protect the anonymity of participants.