Tracking their own behaviour may help children stay on task, based on small studies.
HelpedThe short version
Across 20 studies, students who tracked their behaviour were more on task.
- 20
- studies pooled
- 74
- school children aged 5 to 16
- Recorded
- behaviour was recorded
- 2 tools
- tested
The review
Who took part
74 students aged 5 to 16 took part in 20 studies, mostly boys. Some had ADHD, and others had learning or emotional difficulties.
What they did
Each time a tone, buzz or text prompted them, the students asked themselves 'Am I paying attention?' and marked yes or no. Prompts came every half minute to 10 minutes. Most studies compared each student's time with the method against earlier time without it.
What happened
On-task behaviour went up a lot in these studies, but most studies were small, with one to six students each. The paper warns that this kind of average can overstate the effect, and it gives no range of likely sizes. Quality was fairly high: 19 of 20 studies met 80% or more of the quality checks.
What the review found
- Helped
Across 20 studies, students who tracked their behaviour were more on task.
Pooled analysis of 20 studies with 74 people · vs the same students before they started · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ results look too good to be true; mixes trials with other kinds of study
How solid is this?
- Behaviour was recorded
- Small group
- Unclear how groups were picked
- Results look too good to be true
- Mixes trials with other kinds of study
- The review didn't check the studies' quality or look for missing studies
Source
Meta-Analysis and Quality of Self-Monitoring Behavior Interventions with Children and Adolescents (2019)
DOI: 10.5296/ije.v11i1.14580 (opens in a new tab)
