Movement breaks: effects on the perception of attention and mental wandering in a university class

Abstract

During classroom learning, it requires attentional processes, which tend to fluctuate daily. An inverse concept to attention is the perception of mental wandering, which is understood as a daily experience in which attention is disconnected from the immediate external environment and focuses on internal thoughts.
In this quasi-experimental study, the perception of attention and mental wandering during university classes will be measured, for this a class with a normal structure is compared, without intermediate pauses; versus the use of a strategy that allows movement in classes, where a movement break consisting of two breaks with active movement of 3 minutes will be implemented. 69 students from the Central University of Chile participated. The perception of “mental wandering” was compared using “mind wandering questions” at minute 40 and 70 of a university class, as well as satisfaction with the learning experience. The results indicate high rates of distractibility in a traditional class, with 60% of students reporting feeling “completely distracted” after 40 minutes of a college class.
The incorporation of movement breaks was found to be significantly effective in maintaining attention in the general group and showed significant differences in “managing to maintain attention despite internal distractions” and feeling “comfortable and willing to learn, compared to a traditional class”. This low-cost and easy-to-implement strategy could be a powerful tool to optimize adult learning processes. The degrees of distraction are a factor that university teachers must manage, especially in students who report attentional problems, who, despite the incorporation of this strategy, fail to approach the performance of the general group.