The WellStar College of Health and Human Services is hosting 10 classes in its kinesthetic classroom this semester with the aim of improving students’ learning experience.
The kinesthetic classroom features desks attached to exercise equipment. The machines may remind students of the equipment in the recreation center, but it is not designed for an intense workout. The machines are used to keep students active during a lecture in order to improve focus and engagement with the material being taught.
“I love using the classroom. It keeps my students engaged in the materials, and we can rotate machines which helps as well,” said wellness 1000 coordinator Dr. Mia Oberlton.
The classroom includes stools that wobble, steppers, stationary bikes and ellipticals. The classroom set was acquired by the department of health promotion and wellness, and the variety of equipment enables students of all athletic levels and abilities to find a “desk” that suits them.
During class, instead of fidgeting, daydreaming or playing on their phones, students are more active physically and mentally, Oberlton said.
According to the university, the department of health promotion and wellness reached out to KidsFit, a company that works primarily with K-12 school systems to outfit classrooms with this type of equipment all around the nation, to help create the room.
They worked together to create the first fully kinesthetic classroom on a college campus in the U.S., according to an article published by KidsFit.
The goal of piloting the kinesthetic classroom at KSU is to test the predicted effects the desks have on learning for all ages. Oberlton said the objective of these classrooms is “to see if students’ academic progress is affected by the equipment, and how movement improves academic achievement.”
The classroom is only used by health and physical education courses right now, but it is available for any professor to sign up for and test out. The classroom can hold a maximum of 30 students.
Students can walk through the convocation center at any time to see the classroom for themselves in room 1054.
