Date of Award

5-2017

Document Type

Action Research Project

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Education

Department

Education, Montessori

First Advisor

Alisha Brandon

Department/School

Montessori Early Childhood

Abstract

This paper investigates whether and to what degree Montessori’s “Walking on the Line” activity affected student engagement and concentration. This study took place in a private Montessori classroom serving twenty students, aged 33 months through five years. Data was collected using four tools on line usage, engagement, and concentration: a tally of how many times students walked the line, a tally measuring how engaged students appeared while working in the classroom, how long students concentrated following a lesson, and a professional journal. All but the line usage tool gathered baseline data five days before the intervention. Results were inconclusive. While overall student engagement and concentration rose, there was little to no correlation between number of times students walked on the line daily and engagement or concentration. I will continue to offer this activity while investigating additional activities to increase engagement and concentration.

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