Learning in motion for inclusion at school

Abstract

Spaced learning is a teaching methodology whose peculiarity is the articulation of lesson time, which maximizes students' concentration and memorization. Kelley & Watson (2013) developed this technique to test whether it was possible to encode complex information in long-term memory (LTM) in students using repeated stimuli in a very short time scale. Spaced learning conceives the lesson as an alternative situation that makes students participate and aware. We are designing a training program to develop the spaced learning methodology in enhancing linguistic, mathematical, and scientific skills in children between 8 and 11 years old. We hypothesized an intervention in five phases, three moments of input and two intervals with distracting activities. Motor activity favors spaced learning because it stimulates students to consolidate knowledge and information through meaningful interactions between mind and body; this is also possible in children with special education needs. To allow students to learn in a relaxed and effective way, lessons will be interspersed with motor activities and interactive games through a 10- minute physical setting. We will use spaced learning to strengthen hard skills in primary school: text comprehension, grammar, solving math problems, and scientific conceptualizations. The experimental research will be articulated into phases over the course of two years; it will be aimed at a sample made up of 70 classes of Sicilian schools.