Promoting movement and strengthening arithmetic performance through gamification - The development of an IT-based learning app

It has been scientifically proven that physical activity can have a positive impact on cognitive functions and that it can support the learning process. Although there already exist methods in education that aim at combining both areas in the classroom there has not been developed a digital game in this area, yet. For this reason, the goal of this paper is to report on a developed game that combines physical activity and learning. By applying the Design Thinking Method and conducting expert interviews with teachers, athletes, and game researchers an application is developed for school children, called 'HealthyPets@TUM' that consists of walking steps and solving calculation exercises. With the help of this method, the most important features are developed and then tested in a school class. The game can be seen as a successful first approach for combining educational content with physical activity. However, further research over a longer period and with a bigger study group is necessary to assess the impact of physical activity on the cognitive development by applying a game-based learning approach.