Media mention: Tomporowski quoted on walking, student learning
Philip Tomporowski, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and an expert on movement and comprehension, says walking makes sense in the pandemic and beyond because movement also boosts student learning at school.
“I just want to applaud this notion of having the walking bus or biking trails for children because it provides an opportunity for them to understand how the world works in a more naturalistic fashion,” he said in a GBH article.
Decades of data show that movement can boost student learning. As many schools reduce recess and playtime to focus on testing, ideas like the walking bus are taking on new importance.
“The idea of having a teacher that’s there, not necessarily telling them to keep a march pace, but sort of keep control and having the children talk to one another. They’ll remember that much more than sitting down and trying to memorize a list of test items," he said. “The data are pretty clear on that.”