Abstract:

Mathematics is an important part of the educational system. Learning mathematics is necessary for an individual´s full development in today´s complex society. However, we often encounter negative attitudes of pupils towards mathematics. We believe that the beginning of such negative attitudes arises in primary school. Pupils often refer to not understanding mathematics, they consider mathematics too difficult. Not all children learn the same way, and to reach as many students as possible, math teachers have to take several learning styles into consideration. In the the article we will focus on the kinaesthetic learning style. Kinaesthetic activities help ingrain learning into long-term memory by turning a lesson into a physical experience. When a child is engaged in a kinaesthetic activity, it is interacting with the lesson both by movement and touch.

The paper summarizes the partial results obtained in educational experiment MAM (Movement Activities in Mathematics) which was conducted with 3rd, 4th and 5th grade primary school pupils. This experiment was focused on the inclusion of kinaesthetic activities into teaching of mathematics. Student’s knowledge of arithmetic, geometry and logical thinking was strengthened through a set of physical activities. These were carried out in an outdoor setting. The main research methods used were observation and questionnaire survey. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed and processed using standard statistical methods. Pupil‘s performance in mathematics, attended grade and gender were chosen as the independent variables. The pupil‘s rating of the kinaesthetic activities was the dependent variable. 7 kinaesthetic activities were selected for the experiment. The experiment involved 67 pupils aged 8 to 11. 4 classes from two primary schools were involved. Due to bad weather, some activities were carried out in the school gym. The most interesting activities will be presented in the paper.

There were four main research questions:
• Do the kinaesthetic movement activities have a motivational character for pupils?
• Will boys rate kinaesthetic activities differently than girls?
• Will the rating be dependent on age?
• Will the rating be dependent on performance in mathematics?

The pupils have accepted the activities with enthusiasm. Pupils actively took part and often invented new variants of activities. Minefield and Telegram were among the most succesful activities. Weaker pupils needed more time, but they solved most tasks successfully. Pupils cooperated and helped each other with the activities. Based on the results of the educational experiment, we assume that kinaesthetic movement activities are a suitable catalyst to primary mathematics lessons.

Keywords:

Primary school, mathematics, kinaesthetic activities, outdoor activities.