Ice Breaking Intervention Strategies in Optimizing Elementary School Students' Learning Concentration in Physical Education Lessons
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17509/mimbar-sd.v13i2.47Keywords:
Ice Breaking, Learning Concentration, Physical Education, Elementary School StudentsAbstract
This study was motivated by the decline in learning concentration among fourth-grade elementary school students in Physical Education classes, which is often caused by cognitive fatigue and monotonous learning environments. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of ice-breaking interventions on optimizing students' learning concentration. A quasi-experimental method with a non-equivalent control group design was employed. The sample consisted of 50 fourth-grade students who were equally divided into two groups: an experimental group (n = 25) receiving the ice-breaking intervention and a control group (n = 25) participating in conventional learning. The intervention included cognitive–motor games, songs, and motivational yells designed to stimulate positive neurotransmitters and restore students’ mental energy. Learning concentration was measurement instrument using the Grid Concentration Test (GCT), which has high validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using prerequisite tests and hypothesis testing through an Independent Sample T-Test. The results revealed a significant difference between the two groups. The experimental group achieved a mean concentration score of 86.16, whereas the control group obtained a mean score of 58.84. The significance value (p < 0.05) and an effect specific size of 0.727 indicate that ice-breaking activities have a strong effect on improving students’ concentration. These findings suggest that ice breaking can serve as an effective cognitive refreshment strategy to restore students’ attention during learning activities. The study highlights the importance of integrating refreshing and engaging activities into the instructional structure to maintain students’ mental readiness during Physical Education learning.
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