Exploring a Novel Tool to Measure Wandering Behavior in the Early Childhood Classroom

Anna Wallisch; Dwight Irvin; William D. Kearns; Ying Luo; Brian Boyd; Beth Rous

doi:10.1177/15394492211065705

Exploring a Novel Tool to Measure Wandering Behavior in the Early Childhood Classroom

Anna Wallisch, Dwight Irvin, William D. Kearns, Ying Luo, Brian Boyd, Beth Rous

Educational Leadership Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Wandering, or random movement, affects cognitive and social skills. However, we lack methods to objectively measure wandering behavior. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the use of the Ubisense real-time location system (RTLS) in an early childhood setting to explore wandering in typically developing (TD) children (n = 2) and children with or at risk for developmental disabilities (WA-DD; n = 3). We used the Ubisense RTLS, a tool for capturing locations of individuals in indoor environments, and Fractal Dimension (FD) to measure the degree of wandering or the straightness of a path. Results of this descriptive, observational study indicated the Ubisense RTLS collected 46,229 1-s location estimates across the five children, and TD children had lower FD (M = 1.36) than children WA-DD (M = 1.42). Children WA-DD have more nonlinear paths than TD children. Implications for measuring wandering are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	137-145
Number of pages	9
Journal	OTJR Occupation, Participation and Health
Volume	42
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/15394492211065705
State	Published - Apr 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported in part by Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center # U54HD090216.

Funders	Funder number
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development	U54HD090216
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center

Keywords

children
education
engagement
environment

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Occupational Therapy

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10.1177/15394492211065705

Cite this

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title = "Exploring a Novel Tool to Measure Wandering Behavior in the Early Childhood Classroom",

abstract = "Wandering, or random movement, affects cognitive and social skills. However, we lack methods to objectively measure wandering behavior. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the use of the Ubisense real-time location system (RTLS) in an early childhood setting to explore wandering in typically developing (TD) children (n = 2) and children with or at risk for developmental disabilities (WA-DD; n = 3). We used the Ubisense RTLS, a tool for capturing locations of individuals in indoor environments, and Fractal Dimension (FD) to measure the degree of wandering or the straightness of a path. Results of this descriptive, observational study indicated the Ubisense RTLS collected 46,229 1-s location estimates across the five children, and TD children had lower FD (M = 1.36) than children WA-DD (M = 1.42). Children WA-DD have more nonlinear paths than TD children. Implications for measuring wandering are discussed.",

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AU - Irvin, Dwight

AU - Kearns, William D.

AU - Luo, Ying

AU - Boyd, Brian

AU - Rous, Beth

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N2 - Wandering, or random movement, affects cognitive and social skills. However, we lack methods to objectively measure wandering behavior. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the use of the Ubisense real-time location system (RTLS) in an early childhood setting to explore wandering in typically developing (TD) children (n = 2) and children with or at risk for developmental disabilities (WA-DD; n = 3). We used the Ubisense RTLS, a tool for capturing locations of individuals in indoor environments, and Fractal Dimension (FD) to measure the degree of wandering or the straightness of a path. Results of this descriptive, observational study indicated the Ubisense RTLS collected 46,229 1-s location estimates across the five children, and TD children had lower FD (M = 1.36) than children WA-DD (M = 1.42). Children WA-DD have more nonlinear paths than TD children. Implications for measuring wandering are discussed.

AB - Wandering, or random movement, affects cognitive and social skills. However, we lack methods to objectively measure wandering behavior. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the use of the Ubisense real-time location system (RTLS) in an early childhood setting to explore wandering in typically developing (TD) children (n = 2) and children with or at risk for developmental disabilities (WA-DD; n = 3). We used the Ubisense RTLS, a tool for capturing locations of individuals in indoor environments, and Fractal Dimension (FD) to measure the degree of wandering or the straightness of a path. Results of this descriptive, observational study indicated the Ubisense RTLS collected 46,229 1-s location estimates across the five children, and TD children had lower FD (M = 1.36) than children WA-DD (M = 1.42). Children WA-DD have more nonlinear paths than TD children. Implications for measuring wandering are discussed.

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Exploring a Novel Tool to Measure Wandering Behavior in the Early Childhood Classroom

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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