Moving Maths: physically active maths lessons
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN75118772 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN75118772 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | OKM/66/626/2016 |
- Submission date
- 11/09/2018
- Registration date
- 01/03/2019
- Last edited
- 14/10/2022
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
It has been suggested that physical activity, and especially physical activity integrated into the school day, may be beneficial for attention, executive functions and school performance. The effects of prolonged physical activity interventions on children’s learning are, however, largely unknown. This trial will act as a pilot study for a larger randomized controlled trial, which will examine the effects of physical activity integrated into academic lessons on learning outcomes, engagement and motivation and motor skills. This pilot study is an 8 week intervention and will examine the usability and the effectiveness of physically active math lessons. Children’s and teachers’ experiences will also be examined. We hypothesize that physically active math lessons will enhance children's enjoyment, learning motivation and learning outcomes.
Who can participate?
Third grade teachers and their classes
What does the study involve?
The design will involve comparison of three groups exposed to different teaching during math lessons:
1. Group 1 will receive physically active math lessons in which physical activity is integrated into learning goals
2. Group 2 will receive physically active math lessons with breaks including physical activity not related to learning goals
3. Group 3 are the control group and will receive typical, traditional math lessons.
The intervention lessons will be taught instead of regular math classes for a period of 8 weeks, while the control group will receive typical sedentary classroom lessons.
Children's math performance will be measured before, during and after the 8 weeks teaching period. Children's physical activity will be measured with accelerometers at baseline and during the intervention. Children's enjoyment, motivation and experiences will be measured with questionnaires and interviews. Teachers experiences will be measured with questionnaires and interviews.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
This pilot study will increase the knowledge about the usability of teaching materials and different techniques increasing physical activity in a classroom. In addition, this study will increase the scientific understanding of the effects of physical activity on math learning and motivation.
There are no known risks of participating in this study.
Where is the study run from?
LIKES Research Centre for Physical Activity and Health (Finland)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
March 2017 to December 2018
Who is funding the study?
The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture (Finland)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Heidi Syväoja
heidi.syvaoja@jamk.fi
Contact information
Scientific
LIKES
JAMK University of Applied Sciences
Piippukatu 2
Jyväskylä
FI-40100
Finland
| Phone | +358400248133 |
|---|---|
| heidi.syvaoja@jamk.fi |
Scientific
LIKES
JAMK University of Applied Sciences
Piippukatu 2
Jyväskylä
FI-40100
Finland
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-1771-3977 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +358400247998 |
| tuija.tammelin@jamk.fi |
Study information
| Study design | Interventional cluster randomised controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | School |
| Study type | Quality of life |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use contact details to request a participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | Moving Maths: a pilot study examining the effects of physically active maths lessons |
| Study objectives | Physically active maths lessons will enhance children's enjoyment, learning motivation and learning outcomes. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Ethics Committee of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, 28/08/2018 (no reference number available) |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | School-based physical activity |
| Intervention | This is a cluster-randomized controlled trial, in which five third grade teachers are invited to participated into the study. Volunteers are randomly assigned to use different teaching methods by using lottery. Before randomisation, children in teachers’ classes are invited to participate into the study, and the intervention group, in which they belong to, is determined by the randomisation of teachers. The design will involve comparison of three groups exposed to different teaching during math lessons: 1. Intervention group 1: Physically active maths lessons, in which physical activity is integrated into learning goals (improving the automatisation of basic arithmetic skills such as addition, subtraction and multiplication through active learning games and tasks) 2. Intervention group 2: Physically active maths lessons with breaks including physical activity not related to learning goals (breaks that include physical activities that increase the heart rate and train motor skills) 3. Intervention group 3: Control group: usual maths lessons The classes will be randomly assigned to Intervention Group 1 (n=25 pupils), intervention Group 2 (n=25 pupils), or control Group 3 (n=25 pupils). The intervention lessons will be taught instead of regular maths classes for a period of eight weeks, while the control group will receive typical sedentary classroom lessons. There will be no follow-up period. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Math performance, assessed using a math test including additions, subtractions, multiplications and divisions at the baseline, during and after the intervention. |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Physical activity, assessed: 1.1. Objectively using accelerometers at the baseline and during the intervention 1.2. Subjectively using questionnaires (custom-made for the study) at baseline 1.3. The parent or the child’s main caregiver will complete a questionnaire (custom-made for the study) concerning children’s physical activity at the baseline 2. Children’s experiences about the physically active math lessons, assessed using an interview after the intervention 3. Children's own competence and motivation in mathematics and enjoyment of math classes, assessed using questionnaires (custom-made for the study) at the baseline and after the intervention 4. Teacher's own competence and enjoyment to keep a physically active math lesson, assessed using a diary filled in by the teachers after every math class 5. Children’s motivation, concentration and peaceful learning environment, assessed using a diary filled in by the teachers after every math class 6. Teacher’s experiences about the physically active math lessons, assessed using an interview after the intervention 7. Family background, assessed using a questionnaire (custom-made for the study) filled in by the parent or the child’s main caregiver at the baseline 8. Children’s learning difficulties, assessed using questionnaires (custom-made for the study) filled in by the teacher and the parent or the child’s main caregiver at the baseline |
| Overall study start date | 24/03/2017 |
| Completion date | 31/12/2018 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 75 |
| Key inclusion criteria | Third grade students (mean age of 9 years) |
| Key exclusion criteria | N/A |
| Date of first enrolment | 06/09/2018 |
| Date of final enrolment | 17/09/2018 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Finland
Study participating centre
Jyväskylä
FI40700
Finland
Sponsor information
Research organisation
Rautpohjankatu 8
Jyväskylä
FI40700
Finland
| Phone | +358400247998 |
|---|---|
| tuija.tammelin@likes.fi | |
| Website | https://www.likes.fi/en |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/03mahcv92 |
Funders
Funder type
Government
Government organisation / National government
- Alternative name(s)
- Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland
- Location
- Finland
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 31/12/2019 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Not expected to be made available |
| Publication and dissemination plan | The preliminary results will be reported in international and national congresses in 2019. Manuscripts for international high-impact peer-reviewed journals will be prepared in 2019–2020. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not expected to be made available due to ethical restrictions, as the data contains information that could compromise research participant privacy/content, and due to pilot nature of the study and small sample size. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | results | 10/12/2020 | 14/01/2021 | Yes | No |
Editorial Notes
14/10/2022: Contact details updated.
14/01/2021: Publication reference added.
12/04/2019: This is the trial record for the pilot of the Moving Maths study. The trial record for the full trial is detailed in ISRCTN71844310.
08/03/2019: Internal review.
