Feasibility study of the Strength in Numbers program in secondary school classrooms

For many students, the mathematics classroom is a place of quiet tension. It is a setting where the pressure to perform can feel heavy, often leading to a sense of worry or even fear when faced with numbers and problems. This feeling, known as mathematics anxiety, is not just a temporary nervousness; it can block the brain's ability to focus, making it harder to learn and solve problems. At the same time, schools are increasingly aware that students need to move their bodies to think clearly. Research has long shown that physical activity can sharpen the mind, improve attention, and help students stay engaged with their work. The challenge for educators has been finding a way to bring movement into the classroom without disrupting the lesson or making students feel like they are wasting valuable teaching time.

A team of researchers from the University of Newcastle in Australia set out to test a new idea that combines these two worlds. They developed a program called "Strength in Numbers," which asks a simple question: can a brief burst of physical exercise, done right at the student's desk, help reduce anxiety and improve focus during a mathematics lesson? The program was designed for secondary school students, a group that often struggles with both engagement and confidence in math. Instead of asking students to leave their seats or use special equipment, the intervention used short, five-minute videos. These videos guided students through simple muscle-strengthening movements, such as squats or push-ups against their desks, while they simultaneously answered math questions. The answer to each question was not written down but was instead indicated by the specific movement the student performed. The goal was to see if this blend of physical effort and mental challenge could make the start of a math lesson less stressful and more effective.

The researchers tested this approach in a single secondary school in New South Wales, Australia, involving two Year 9 mathematics classes with a total of fifty students. The students were mostly fourteen years old, and the majority came from backgrounds with lower socioeconomic status. Over a period of three weeks, the teachers played these five-minute videos at the beginning of their lessons twice a week. Before the study began, the teachers received a short training session to learn how to use the videos and ensure the exercises were safe. The researchers then watched closely to see if the program could be delivered as planned, if the teachers and students found it acceptable, and if the students stayed engaged. They also measured whether the students felt less anxious about math immediately after the activity and whether they spent more time focused on their work during the rest of the lesson.

The results of this initial test were encouraging. The program proved to be feasible, meaning it could be successfully implemented in a real school setting without major problems. The teachers delivered every single session they had planned, and the vast majority of students participated. In fact, the recruitment of students was higher than expected, with eighty-six percent of those invited agreeing to take part. The teachers reported that the program was acceptable and that they felt capable of delivering it. They noted that the students were generally able to complete the exercises and answer the questions, though there were some minor logistical hiccups, such as internet connectivity issues or the music in the videos being too loud for an open-plan classroom. Despite these small challenges, the students remained on task for the majority of the observation period, with one class showing particularly high levels of focus.

Beyond the logistics, the study looked at how the students felt. The researchers found small but meaningful improvements in the students' immediate feelings about mathematics. After just five minutes of moving and thinking, students reported feeling more ready to learn, more confident in their abilities, and less nervous about the subject. These changes happened quickly, right after the activity, suggesting that a brief physical break could act as a reset button for the mind. However, the study did not find large changes in the students' long-term anxiety about math, which is a deeper, more persistent feeling that likely takes more time to shift. The researchers also observed that the level of engagement varied between the two classes, hinting that the specific classroom environment and how the questions were matched to the students' current lessons might influence how well the program works.

The authors are careful to note that this was a small, initial study designed to test whether the idea was workable, not to prove that it is a perfect solution. They did not include a control group of students who did not do the exercises, so they cannot say for certain that the improvements came solely from the program. They also acknowledged that the videos they created were not yet polished, and that the questions sometimes felt too difficult or the timing too tight for some students. These are not failures, but rather clues for how to improve the program. The researchers suggest that future versions could give teachers more freedom to choose math topics that match their current lessons and to adjust the exercises to fit their specific classroom space. They also propose that using artificial intelligence to generate custom questions could make the program more flexible and engaging for every student.

Ultimately, this study suggests that integrating movement into mathematics lessons is a practical and promising idea. It shows that teachers can introduce physical activity without losing instructional time and that students can respond positively to a lesson that starts with movement. While the program is not yet a finished product, the findings provide a solid foundation for a larger, more rigorous test in the future. If the program can be refined to better suit different classrooms and student needs, it could become a valuable tool for helping students feel more confident and engaged in mathematics, turning a source of anxiety into an opportunity for connection and learning.