When mathematics meets physical activity in the school-aged child: The effect of an integrated motor and cognitive approach to learning geometry

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 13; no. 8; p. e0196024
• Main Authors: Hraste, Mladen, De Giorgio, Andrea, Jelaska, Petra Mandić, Padulo, Johnny, Granić, Ivan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 08.08.2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Anxiety; Biology and Life Sciences; Brain research; Children; Children & youth; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Cognitive development; Elementary school students; Evaluation; Exercise; Health aspects; Integrated approach; Intellectual disabilities; Internet; Intervention; Kinesiology; Learning; Learning strategies; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical problems; Mathematics; Mathematics education; Mathematics teachers; Medicine and Health Sciences; Motor ability; Motor skills; Motors; People and Places; Physical activity; Physical education; Physical fitness; Physical Sciences; Physiology; Preschool education; Rectangles; Skills; Social Sciences; Students; Teaching methods; Testing; Variance analysis; Italy; Croatia
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196024

Mathematics is a science which can lead to both anxiety in children and teaching difficulties in teachers. Together, these two difficulties can increase the time spent in teaching and learning mathematics. The aim of this study is to examine the efficiency of a new integrated mathematics/geometry and physical activity program, specifically structured for increasing learning in fourth-grade pupils. Thirty-six children (age 10.36±0.55) were divided into an experimental (n1 = 19) group and a control (n2 = 17) group. The experimental group of subjects learned mathematics and geometry via the integrated teaching method, while the control group of subjects learned these subjects via traditional teaching methods. We administered two ad hoc tests, before and after the intervention, in order to study its effect. One test was on geometry knowledge and the other on mathematics, in which there were questions about the implemented teaching topics: rectangles, squares and their perimeters. Using a factorial 2×2 ANOVA, the results after four weeks indicated that the group of subjects who gained their mathematics and geometry knowledge through our intervention program were significantly more successful (P<0.05) than the control group. Our results suggest that the integrated teaching method proposed here could be considered a useful and efficient method for teaching mathematics and geometry based on motor tasks.