Cognitive Neuroscience in Elementary Education: A Correlational Study of Cerebellum Motor Coordination and Academic Proficiency

Abstract

Successful education of young students is a demanding task that requires attention to adaptive teaching methodologies, and physiological learning systems described in neuroscience. This dissertation evaluated correlational relationships between cerebellum motor coordination, and academic proficiency in mathematics and English language arts (ELA) as measured by the Arizona Department of Education’s AZMerit exam. AZMerit is administered annually to elementary, middle, and high school students, and assesses various areas of academic proficiency. The participant sample included 81 fifth grade students from three schools that completed AZMerit mathematics and English tests near the end of 4 ^th grade in the spring of 2017. Cerebellum motor coordination was measured in November 2017 with the International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale. Significant effect sizes were found between International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale and AZMerit mathematics and English Language Arts scores. The intent of this investigation was discovery of correlation and encouragement of experimental research to examine the influence of cerebellum motor coordination rehabilitation therapy on academic proficiency.