Recess and Its Impact on Successful State Assessments Exams Presentation

Introduction

• The topic is the role of recess in students’ performance on State Assessment Exams.
• The purpose of the study is to analyze if recess improves the quality of learning among students.
• It is highly important because solid evidence can enhance the education process.
• Research Question: How significant a recess factor in students’ performance on exams?

Elementary school periods include a certain level of psychophysiological development, ensuring optimal adaptation of the child to the school regime and the possibility of learning curricula. Under these conditions, the decisive indicator determining the possibility of training is not the age, but the degree of the child’s functional readiness for school requirements. The duration, gradualness, and unevenness of development determine the differences in the functional capabilities of the body when interacting with factors of training and education, therefore one of the main tasks is to develop the physiological and mental foundations of the effective organization of the educational process, the psychophysiological substantiation of new teaching methods.

Annotated Bibliography

McMath, B. (2018). Assessing the impact of recess on academic achievement in mathematics and reading among third and fourth graders: A causal-comparative inquiry (Publication No. 87022) [Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi]. TAMU-CC Repository.

• The purpose of the study was to analyze the impact of recess on reading and math in young students.
• The author took a quantitative approach by conducting the assessments on fairly large sample groups.
• Research Question – What is the statistical significance of recess on the subjects?
• The hypothesis was that the recess group would outperform the group without recess on examinations.
• Participants were 168 third and 167 fourth grade students with recess, and 165 third and 170 fourth graders without recess (McMath, 2018).

Key findings:

• Univariate data analysis did not show recess significance
• Multivariate data analysis did not show recess significance
• Co-variate data analysis did not show recess significance
• Examination results did not show recess significance
• Fourth grade students of the recess group outperformed the non-recess group on the basis of the STAAR math category (McMath, 2018).
• Therefore, recess does not hinder the learning process.

The author’s research approach focused on fairly large sample size, but the main hypothesis was not supported by the data. All data analysis methods did not show any statistically significant support for the hypothesis, which allowed the author to conclude that recess does not hinder the learning process. It is still a question whether recess improves one’s academic performance and cognitive development. The given study needs to focus on more measurable and precise factors of potential improvement in order to understand the overall value of recess.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). The association between school based physical activity, including physical education, and academic performance. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

• The purpose of the study was to assess the importance of physical exercise on academic performance, cognitive skills, and attitudes.
• The authors used a quantitative approach by reviewing relevant reports and research articles.
• Research Question – What is the overall impact of school-based physical education, recess, classroom physical activity, and extracurricular physical activity on academic performance parameters, such as academic achievement, academic behavior, and cognitive skills?
• The hypothesis was that recess stimulates physical activity, which in turn improves the academic performance scores.
• Participants – The study did not directly study people, but rather reviewed available data. A total of 406 articles was analyzed (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).

Key findings:

• A total of 8 recess studies were evaluated.
• None of the studies found a negative impact of recess on academic performance.
• Recess either have a positive or neutral correlation with in-class behavior, attention, and concentration.
• All studies revealed that recess improves academic behavior, attitudes, and cognitive skills (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).

Physical training is the educational component of a continuing education program that is comprehensively linked to health. It provides for the implementation of the most important basic sections of the content of physical education. It helps teachers prepare students to meet the requirements of the state educational standard for physical education and to form their appropriate level of physical fitness associated with good health throughout life. The ultimate goal of fitness training is to help students learn, develop skills, build skills, and promote a positive attitude towards physical culture and behavior that leads to a physically active, healthy lifestyle.

Stapp, A. C., & Karr, J. K. (2018). Effect of recess on fifth grade students’ time on-task in an elementary classroom. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 10(4), 449-456.

• The authors used a quantitative approach by on- and off-task behavior analysis.
• Research Question – Do on-task behaviors increase or decrease after recess break?
• The hypothesis was that recess allows students to be able to spend more time on-task, which is an indicator of academic performance.
• Participants were six male and six female fifth grade students (Stapp & Karr, 2018).

Key findings:

• Recess significantly improved and increased on-task behavior time, which affects academic performance.
• All participants showed improvement in on-task behavior.
• All students were more focused, where the time spent on-task was bigger than off-task after recess.
• The majority of students spent more time off-task than on-task before recess, but the behavior flipped after the break (Stapp & Karr, 2018).

The dynamism of the interactions between the student and the educational environment determines the activation of the signal and evaluation functions of his psyche, which is associated with emotional processes and conditions. Evidently, the processes of interaction between the student and the educational environment are accompanied by a wide range of emotional manifestations, however, the reaction of the student’s body and psyche to significant changes in this area is primarily associated with stress. All stages in the process of interaction between the student and the educational environment do not appear, but the emotional mechanisms of triggering and providing these interactions are often accompanied by significant anxiety and other emotional processes and conditions.

Literature Review Synthesis

• McMath’s study used a larger sample of participants, but the author could not show any statistically significant value of recess (McMath, 2018).
• The last study used a highly small sample size and in-detail analysis to show that recess improves focus and attention (Stapp & Karr, 2018).
• CDC study analysis was primarily focused on the physical activity aspect of recess, and the total number of studies related to recess was small (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).
• The main similarity is the fact that recess does not hinder or worsen the learning process.
• Therefore, there is no need to stress children out for longer session hours.
• The relevance is manifested in the fact that recess needs to be studied on a larger sample with a more detailed analysis of focus as a part of the academic performance indicator.

Deprivation in the educational process of the elementary grades is caused by such pedagogical factors as the overload of various educational programs, the children’s unequal readiness to learn, and the unpreparedness of younger students to apply their knowledge in their own lives to solve practical problems. The educational process does not correspond to the intellectual capabilities of younger students. Thus, the prevention of deprivation of primary schoolchildren in the educational process will become possible if it relies on timely diagnosis and analysis of deprivation factors affecting the primary school in the process of learning and socialization.

Methods

• Survey research allows expanding the sample size.
• It also allows researchers to gather valuable data in quick succession.
• Surveys can measure a wide range of parameters.
• The given method is useful in identifying the strongest pattern of correlations.
• Therefore, further studies can be more focused and specialized.
• Both quantitative and qualitative questions were used in order to find the major factor of influence that is linked to recess.

It is highly important to decide on the purpose of the questionnaire and focus on one specific goal. In this way, it will be possible to collect relevant information and not confuse the participant. One also needs to understand what information to collect, because as soon as the goal becomes clear, it will be possible to choose which data and in what format to collect. It is important to be objective and make sure that only direct questions are asked, avoiding obscure designs. One needs to follow the order of the questions, and a logical sequence of questions should be correctly constructed.

Participants

• Participants will consist of elementary school students with grades similar to the studies presented.
• The demographic will include school grade parameters.
• Students will be surveyed in all nearby public and private schools.
• The setting will be based on an on-site survey, but the primary goal is to gather as much data as possible.

The participants will be similar to the ones of the studies, where they will either third or fourth grade students.