Session Information
18 SES 01, Learning in, through and about Physical Education: Social Class, Ability and Empowerment
Paper Session
Contribution
Orienteering is a competitive sport where winning is achieved by being the fastest to navigate through points in the environment known as controls using a map and a compass. Participants in orienteering needs to pay attention to three sources of information: the map, the environment and the travel. Orienteers have to translate symbols from the map to objects in the environment. They compare these two mental representations by using spatial abilities and attention (Eccles, Walsh, & Ingledew, 2002).
Spatial perception is based on the visual-spatial system in which stages of information are processed; it is sensitive to learning and has to be involved with movement (Held, 1963). The spatial-visual system and the verbal-hearing system are active in the working memory and enable the long term memory to process cognitive activities (Baddeley, 2003).
The importance of movement to the development of spatial perception is attributed to the free and organized movement play of children. These play an important role in the development and achievement of spatial perception in early childhood (Oña, 2005). Movement by itself improves spatial perception, but its contribution to spatial perception increases when the activity takes place in a larger area (Canto, Ona , & Granada, 2007).
Hence, it was assumed that orienteering in kindergarten would help in developing spatial perception in early childhood. Orienteering is a game activity where children are required to transfer three-dimensional space information into two-dimensional information on the map, and vice versa, to place attention on the environment and its objects; and to match it to the symbols on the map. In the beginning of the learning process the activity, by its nature, starts in a small area that gradually finishes in the forest, an area without borders. This process contributes to learning and achieving better spatial vision skills (Canto et al., 2007).
Research goals: To examine the effect orienteering has on spatial abilities and attention of 5-6 year old children.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Baddeley, A. (2003). Working memory: looking back and looking forward. Nature Review Neuroscience, 4(10), 829-839. Berger, I., & Goldzweig, G. (2010). Objective measures of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A pilot study. The Israel Medical Association Journal, 12, 531-535. Canto, A. J., Ona , A. S., & Granada, J. V. (2007). Improving spatial perception in 5-yr-old Spanish children. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 104, 1223-1235. Eccles, D. W., Walsh, S. E., & Ingledew, D. K. (2002). A grounded theory of expert cognition in orienteering. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 24, 68-88. Held, R. (1963). Movement produced stimulation in the development of visually guided behavior. Journal of Comparative and physiological Psychology, 56(5), 872-876. Oña, A. (2005). Actividad Fisica y Desarrollo. Ejercicio Fisico desde el Nacimiento. Sevilla: Wanceulen. Tzuriel, D. (1995). The Cognitive Modifiability Battery (CMB). Assessment and Intervention. Bar Ilan University: http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~tzuried/cmb.html
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