Kinesthetic Classrooms ·

Kandice Porter: First Fully Kinesthetic University Classroom - Kennesaw State University, GA

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Kennesaw is currently the third largest university in the state of Georgia and often considered a leader in innovative teaching and learning across the state.

KSU's latest accomplishment?

Home of the first fully kinesthetic classroom on a college campus!

Action Based Learning sat down with Kandice Porter, Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education in the WellStar College of Health and Human Services at Kennesaw State to learn more about her plans for the kinesthetic classroom and how she turned her vision into a reality to implement the first ever active classroom at the university level.

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Why the Kinesthetic Classroom?

"We are huge advocates for the inclusion of more movement in K12 schools. KSU is a leading preparer of K12 educators in Georgia, and the kinesthetic classroom was right in line with our mission" says Porter. "There is certainly a growing body of research to support the inclusion of movement into the learning process, what better way to do this than to train future teachers?"

What caused the transition from "We're interested" to "We're Ready"?

"For the past few years, I have seen pieces in the news or at conferences on kinesthetic classrooms. No company was building equipment that could handle our college population. We have tried small scale initiatives for our faculty, like installing standing desks, but nothing was being done in our classrooms. Finally, last year, I came across the Kidsfit website. It was exactly what I was looking for! When I went to the Southern District SHAPE America Conference, I went to the booth to check out the quality. We placed our purchase order the next week!"

Now that you have your dream classroom, tell us about your plans for the kinesthetic classroom?

"First, we want the HPE Department to be pioneers in this line of research. Our team is currently mapping out our most immediate research needs as it relates to movement and learning, and plan to begin research immediately. One of the things we hope to study, is the amount of off-task behavior by students, when they are allowed (even encouraged!) to move as part of their learning environments.

We hope that our research, as well as others in the field, will change how we outfit college classrooms. Someday, all classrooms may incorporate opportunities for movement. Of course, we are interested in seeing how academic performance improves. In addition, we are hoping to reduce the digital distractions. College students are often multitasking while in class...and not in a good way. They expect to learn even while emailing and snap chatting."

KSU's new classroom was recently featured on CNN, watch video

How often will the room be used?

"We have a number of different classes scheduled for our kinesthetic classroom. We’ve also left some time slots open so that faculty who were not originally assigned to teach in there, but would like to give it a try, have the option of holding 2-3 class periods to hopefully experience a classroom environment conducive to how the brain learns!"

Any words of wisdom for others who may be interested in kinesthetic classrooms?

Porter recommends, "Getting administrative support. We were able to creatively use some college funding to outfit the classroom. Our classroom has 32 stations, so we did lose some classroom seats. However, the costs were very similar to what we would have paid for a desk that could have been purchased fifty years ago."

A huge thank you to Kandice Porter and her team at KSU for joining our mission to Change the future for all children, by increasing their health, wellness, and education - through movement!

Stay tuned for more updates from Kennesaw State University!

Questions regarding the equipment or Kinesthetic Classroom Program? Email actionbasedlearning@kidsfit.com For full article, view on LinkedIn