Effects of Antecedent Physical Activity on Engagement

Research shows that longer periods of moderate-intensity exercises increase student engagement in the classroom. There is little research examining the effects of a 1-minute period of high-intensity exercise embedded into structured times in the classroom. This study examined the effect of high-intensity exercise on student engagement during a small group literacy activity in a kindergarten classroom. The study implemented an A-B-A-B design across three participants. During intervention conditions, one-minute of high-intensity exercise was implemented before the literacy activity. Whole-interval recording was used to measure student engagement during the subsequent five minutes of literacy activity. High-intensity exercise was associated with elevated levels of engagement for each of the three participants.