The effect of active learning on academic performance in a Norwegian primary school setting–the Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP)
BackgroundNumerous systematic reviews, with varying degrees of certainty, have suggested a beneficial link between physical activity and academic achievement.MethodsThe Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP) in Horten, Norway, integrates active learning in seven elementary schools’ curricula (n...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Education |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1562387/full |
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| author | Per Morten Fredriksen Per Morten Fredriksen Trine Bjerva Asgeir Mamen |
| author_facet | Per Morten Fredriksen Per Morten Fredriksen Trine Bjerva Asgeir Mamen |
| author_sort | Per Morten Fredriksen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundNumerous systematic reviews, with varying degrees of certainty, have suggested a beneficial link between physical activity and academic achievement.MethodsThe Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP) in Horten, Norway, integrates active learning in seven elementary schools’ curricula (n = 1,545), aiming to merge physical activity with academic instruction. The control group consisted of two schools from Akershus County, doing standard teaching (n = 752). The data were collected from 2015 to 2019.ResultsThe results highlight the active learning potential to complement traditional teaching methods and foster overall academic success in elementary education. Active learning, partially replacing traditional classroom methods with physical tasks, yielded significant academic benefits. Secular trends for national tests in 5th-grade intervention school students across five years showed improvement compared to control schools in English, arithmetic, and reading. Both intervention and control schools displayed a significant change in slope across the study period. Compared to national median results, the intervention schools also revealed an improvement.ConclusionHOPP’s findings underscore the effectiveness of active learning in enhancing academic performance, with intervention schools surpassing national medians after four years of intervention. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4eea0400f77e4d679a57d8cb65f4a89b |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 2504-284X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Education |
| spelling | doaj-art-4eea0400f77e4d679a57d8cb65f4a89b2025-07-29T17:06:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2025-07-011010.3389/feduc.2025.15623871562387The effect of active learning on academic performance in a Norwegian primary school setting–the Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP)Per Morten Fredriksen0Per Morten Fredriksen1Trine Bjerva2Asgeir Mamen3Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Inland Norway, Hamar, NorwayFaculty of Health, Welfare, and Organisation, Østfold University College, Elverum, NorwayFaculty of Social and Health Sciences, University of Inland Norway, Elverum, NorwaySchool of Health Sciences, Kristiania University College, Oslo, NorwayBackgroundNumerous systematic reviews, with varying degrees of certainty, have suggested a beneficial link between physical activity and academic achievement.MethodsThe Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP) in Horten, Norway, integrates active learning in seven elementary schools’ curricula (n = 1,545), aiming to merge physical activity with academic instruction. The control group consisted of two schools from Akershus County, doing standard teaching (n = 752). The data were collected from 2015 to 2019.ResultsThe results highlight the active learning potential to complement traditional teaching methods and foster overall academic success in elementary education. Active learning, partially replacing traditional classroom methods with physical tasks, yielded significant academic benefits. Secular trends for national tests in 5th-grade intervention school students across five years showed improvement compared to control schools in English, arithmetic, and reading. Both intervention and control schools displayed a significant change in slope across the study period. Compared to national median results, the intervention schools also revealed an improvement.ConclusionHOPP’s findings underscore the effectiveness of active learning in enhancing academic performance, with intervention schools surpassing national medians after four years of intervention.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1562387/fullphysical activityactive learningacademic performanceelementary school childreneducation |
| spellingShingle | Per Morten Fredriksen Per Morten Fredriksen Trine Bjerva Asgeir Mamen The effect of active learning on academic performance in a Norwegian primary school setting–the Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP) Frontiers in Education physical activity active learning academic performance elementary school children education |
| title | The effect of active learning on academic performance in a Norwegian primary school setting–the Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP) |
| title_full | The effect of active learning on academic performance in a Norwegian primary school setting–the Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP) |
| title_fullStr | The effect of active learning on academic performance in a Norwegian primary school setting–the Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP) |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effect of active learning on academic performance in a Norwegian primary school setting–the Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP) |
| title_short | The effect of active learning on academic performance in a Norwegian primary school setting–the Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP) |
| title_sort | effect of active learning on academic performance in a norwegian primary school setting the health oriented pedagogical project hopp |
| topic | physical activity active learning academic performance elementary school children education |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1562387/full |
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