Impact of Active Break with Guided Dance in University Classes

Introduction. In general, during the theoretical content taught in different educational stages, students are seated for several hours and expository methods are used by the teacher. Under these conditions, emotions such as anxiety, boredom and loss of attention may appear. To improve this situation, several studies have shown that active breaks (AB) in class are a good option. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate the effect of AB with dance in the classroom on the emotional state and attention level of university students. Material and methods. A crossover design was employed where the type of rest (active vs. passive) was compared in two class groups for a total of 68 students (age 20.7 ± 1.7 years, 50% female). The variables studied were the level of attention and emotional state, assessed using the d2 test and the mood rating scale (EVEA). A multilevel linear model was applied and Cohen’s d was calculated for the statistical analysis. Results. Although there was an improvement in the level of attention with the implementation of AB with dance (p > 0.05, |d| = 0.15-0.28), this was not significant. In the emotional state, a decrease in the level of sadness was found (p > 0.05; d = - 0.16) without statistical significance. Conclusions. The application of AB with dance in the classroom provides a way to increase students’ physical activity levels without negatively affecting the level of attention. Further studies with theoretical classes of longer duration and in a longer intervention period could provide new data on the benefits of AB with dance.