The effects of online enactive education on secondary school students

Abstract

Enactive education is an innovative model based on embodied cognition. This quasi-experimental controlled study with pretest-posttest design investigated the effects of an online enactive school program on students’ learning, academic self-concept, and physical selfconcept. The study was conducted in three secondary schools in Salerno and Potenza, Italy, in 2021. Participants were 431 students, 52.4% girls, mean age 14.27 years (SD=1.01). The study instruments included a school questionnaire and the multidimensional self-concept scale (MSCS). The experimental group received online sessions on mind-body wellbeing, healthy eating, and movement. Controls received non-enactive online classes on the same subjects. Findings indicate that the experimental group, compared to controls, showed higher levels of all the variables considered. Overall effect sizes were high (Hedge’s g 0.69 for learning, 0.36 for academic self-concept, and 1.23 for physical self-concept). Implications include that online enactive education should be used at secondary level to promote desirable educational and psychological outcomes.