The Effects of Class Breaks on Motivation and Behavior in a Remote Learning Environment: Does Movement Matter?

The transition to a completely online educational platform has been implemented in universities across the United States to safely continue the facilitation of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. While this system allowed college students to continue their education, it likely reduced physical activity (PA) levels since students were no longer physically moving from class to class and could not access a campus recreation center. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of two different types of class breaks (exercise vs. viewing a self-selected phone app) during a remote learning course on physical activity motivation, intention, and behavior in college students. It was hypothesized that including 10-minute exercise bouts during synchronous remote classes for one week would improve physical activity motivation, intentions, and behavior compared to a sedentary control. A total of 31 students completed the crossover study. There were no significant differences between conditions. However, the data indicated that moderate intensity activity (p = .09), and the injunctive norm (p = 0.08) and physical activity intention (p = .08) domains of the intention questionnaire may be area to focus on for future studies involving exercise-centered class breaks.