The Effect of Brain Breaks on Academic Progress, Self-Efficacy, and Interest in Physical Activity of Primary School Students

Abstract

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the effect of brain breaks on academic progress, self-efficacy, and interest in physical activity of primary school students.Methods: The current research was a quasi-experimental type with a pre-test, post-test, and control group design. Its statistical population included fourth, fifth, and sixth-grade female students. Using the cluster random sampling method, 127 students were selected as the research sample and were assigned to two intervention and control groups through a simple random method. To collect data, the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (Morris, 2001) and the Children’s Attraction to Physical Activity questionnaire (Rose et al., 2009), and a researcher-made questionnaire for the educational progress of the participants were used. The intervention group performed brain breaks physical activities twice a day and three days a week for four months, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were evaluated using an independent t-test.Results: Data analysis indicated that after the intervention (brain breaks), the average scores of the experimental group for three variables of academic achievement (F=3.57, P=0.001), self-efficacy (F=7.65, P=0.001), and interest in physical activity (F=10.72, P=0.001) had a significant difference compared with the control group.Conclusion: These findings can highlight the need for planners and education officials to pay attention to the importance of the role of brain breaks activities in improving academic progress, self-efficacy, and its effect on the level of interest in physical activities of primary school girls.

Keywords

• brain break
• academic progress
• self-efficacy
• new teaching method
• physical activity