Anchoring Attention: Combining Animated Multimedia and Spatial Scaffolding for Primary Students with ADHD

Abstract

Despite the growing implementation of inclusive education policies in public primary schools, there remains a gap in understanding how integrated digital and real-time behavioral interventions affect students with attention deficits in remote, under-resourced classrooms. This study aims to enhance the attention span and academic focus of lower-primary students with ADHD Inattentive Type, specifically addressing this gap by combining short-form animated educational videos with proactive behavior modifications, including proximity control and direct prompting. Employing a collaborative Classroom Action Research (CAR) design based on the Kemmis and McTaggart framework, data were collected through high-precision stopwatch duration recording, field notes, daily formative tests, and parental interviews involving a 7-year-old male student from an inclusive first-grade classroom at SDN 008 Kaubun, East Kutai. The findings reveal that the subject's mean sustained attention duration increased significantly from 2.6 to 15.0 minutes, attention recovery latency collapsed to 5–10 seconds, and cognitive mastery reached 100% with a final comprehensive score of 98. This research contributes to the field of education by providing empirical evidence on how digital multimedia can be effectively structurally paired with real-time human behavioral scaffolding in resource-constrained environments. The implications suggest that simple environmental adaptations and multi-sensory digital anchors can prevent cognitive overload and enhance learning retention for neurodivergent students in mainstream settings.