Student arousal, engagement, and emotion relative to Physical Education periods in school

Background: Exercise has transient effects on cognition and mood, however the impact of Physical Education (PE) on cognitive and affective processes across the school day has not been examined.

Method: This study used wearables and questionnaires to track student arousal, engagement, and emotion across school days/periods following PE. Skin conductance, heart rate, heart rate variability, and self-reported engagement, arousal, and valence were analyzed for 23 students (age 15-17 years) on days with and without PE.

Results: Sympathetic arousal was significantly higher for two hours following PE and there were stronger decreases in arousal across other classes relative to days without PE. On days with PE, engagement decreased, whereas valence increased from morning to afternoon.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of considering acute effects of PE on learning across the entire school day, and demonstrates the feasibility of wearables to clarify how the timing of PE could positively or negatively affect self-regulation and learning.