- Title
- The Encouraging Activity to Stimulate Young Minds Study: a curriculum-based physical activity intervention to enhance learning and health outcomes in the primary school
- Creator
- Riley, Nicholas
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2016
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Objective: Multiple physical and psychological health benefits can be attained when children participate in the recommended levels of physical activity. Schools have been identified as important institutions for the promotion of physical activity among children. However, the crowded school curriculum and competing school demands have affected both the quantity and quality of physical activity opportunities provided to children within primary school settings. As such, novel strategies are required to assist teachers to promote physical activity throughout the school day. The primary aim of this thesis was to evaluate the impact of a program that utilised physical activity integration as a teaching strategy to enhance engagement in mathematics lessons in primary schools. The primary outcome for the Encouraging Activity to Stimulate Young Minds (EASY Minds) study was children’s objectively measured physical activity (accelerometry) across the school day. Secondary outcomes included school-based sedentary time, and a range of key educational outcomes including children’s on-task behaviour, mathematical achievement and attitude towards mathematics. A secondary aim of this thesis was to examine the feasibility of integrating physical activity in the mathematics curriculum focussing on enjoyment and engagement and the quality of the pedagogy movement-based learning promotes. Methods: This thesis contains two distinct phases. Phase one was a pilot randomised controlled trial in a single school planned and delivered by the research team. Phase two was a cluster randomised controlled trial involving eight schools, which was delivered by trained classroom teachers. Phase 1: Phase one involved a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) that was conducted in one primary school, in the Hunter Region, NSW, Australia. Children from Grades 5 and 6 were recruited for the study (n = 54; mean age 10.53 years ± 0.7) and were randomised by class into the EASY Minds intervention (n = 27) or the control (n = 27) conditions. This intervention was delivered by the PhD candidate. The EASY Minds intervention was a six week school-based physical activity program that embedded physical activity within the primary school mathematics curriculum for up to three 60 minute sessions per week. The control groups participated in their usual daily mathematics program. The PhD candidate was responsible for delivering all program sessions (n = 17) at the intervention school in the pilot study. In the pilot study, assessments were taken at baseline, three and six, weeks to determine changes in physical activity and on task behaviour. Physical activity was measured using Actigraph accelerometers (GT3X, Pensacola, USA). On-task behaviour was measured using a momentary time sampling procedure and reported as a percentage of time. Intervention effects in the pilot study were assessed using linear mixed models following the intention to treat principle. Using intention-to-treat analysis, significant intervention effects were found for MVPA (9.7%, 95% CI=7.6 to 11.8, p<0.001) and sedentary time (-22.4%, 95% CI=-24.9 to 12.2, p<0.001) for the intervention group during Mathematics lessons (9.30am-10.30am). Significant intervention effects were also shown for MVPA 8.7% (95% CI = 5.8 to 11.6, p<0.001) and sedentary time -18.6% (95% CI = -24.9 to -12.2, p<0.001) across the whole school day. Furthermore, children displayed significantly greater ‘on-task’ behaviour across the intervention period with a 19.9% (95% CI = 2.4 to 37.4, p = 0.03) mean difference between groups. Process evaluation: Measures of recruitment, retention, adherence and satisfaction were very high. All of the participating schools’ principals and teachers agreed to participate in the EASY Minds study. In the pilot study, the recruitment rate for students was 96.4%. Retention rate was expectedly high (100%) as the program was school-based and delivered in the daily planned Mathematics sessions. Of the 18 scheduled curriculum sessions, 17 were delivered as intended. There was an overall attendance rate of 94% across the 17 taught sessions. It was clear from teacher and student evaluations that the program was innovative, appealing and of great benefit. Scores on the evaluation survey completed by the 27 students in the intervention group ranged from 4.0 to 4.9 out of 5 for the 20 items indicating high to very high satisfaction rates for the EASY Minds program. Students found the program highly enjoyable, mean score=4.6 (SD=0.7), the students enjoyed working outside the classroom 4.9 (0.3) and incorporating PA into their lessons 4.7 (0.5). Phase 2: In Phase two, a cluster RCT was conducted in eight primary schools in the Hunter Region, NSW, Australia. Teachers (n=10) from Grades 5 and 6 were recruited for the studies alongside their students (n = 240; mean age = 11.10 years ± 0.7) and were randomized by school into the EASY Minds intervention (n = 142 students) or the control (n = 98) group. Following the pilot study the intervention was revised and refined. The EASY Minds program cluster RCT involved the professional learning of classroom teachers to deliver the program and the inclusion of the key academic measures of attainment and attitude were also included. Additionally, focus groups with the students and interviews with the teachers were carried out to provide a detailed quantitative process evaluation. In the cluster RCT, assessments were taken at baseline and 6-weeks to determine changes in physical activity and changes in on task behaviour, mathematical attitude and mathematical performance. Physical activity was measured using Actigraph accelerometers (GT3X, Pensacola, USA), on task behaviour was measured using momentary time sampling, mathematical attitude was measured using a validated 24 item questionnaire and achievement measured using a Mathematics Progressive Achievement test. Intervention effects were assessed using linear mixed models. Process evaluation measures of recruitment, retention, adherence and satisfaction were assessed in both trials to determine program feasibility. In addition, student focus groups and teacher interviews were conducted following the cluster RCT to gain insights into the barriers and facilitators of program implementation and delivery and examine the quality of the learning. Significant intervention effects were found for PA across the school day (adjusted mean difference 103 CPM, 95% CI 36.5 to 169.7, p = 0.008). Intervention effects were also found for PA (168 CPM, 95% CI 90.1 to 247.4, p=0.008) and MVPA (2.6%, 95% CI 0.9 to 4.4, p=.009) in mathematics lessons, sedentary time across the school day (-3.5%, 95% CI -7.0 to -0.13, p= 0.044) and during mathematics (-8.2%, CI -13.0 to -2.0, p = 0.010) and on-task behaviour (13.8%, 95% CI 4.0 to 23.6, p = 0.011), but not for mathematics performance or attitude. In the cluster RCT, all teachers reported that they delivered the recommended three sessions per week of movement-based learning. A total of 18 fidelity checks were carried out over the evaluation period and teachers responded well to researcher feedback with mean scores for promoting mathematical concepts rising from 3.3 to 4.4, activity levels 3.4 to 4.1 and engagement 3.7 to 4.3. Teachers also reported that they were also now integrating physical activity in other curriculum areas. Mean scores from the student evaluation survey ranged from 3.4 to 4.7 out of 5 (1= strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree), indicating high to very high overall satisfaction rates for the EASY Minds program. Teacher evaluation of the professional learning day was very positive with mean scores of 5.0 for all nine items on the survey. Teachers added additional written feedback commenting on the high level of engagement, real life practical participation and realistic expectations of the study. The focus group data and teacher interviews revealed positive student and teacher perceptions of the program. The program provided positive experiences for teachers and students, both in terms of enjoyment and engagement in maths lessons, while ensuring high quality learning experiences. Embedding movement-based learning throughout the school day, across subject areas, had a significant positive effect on children’s enjoyment and engagement in mathematics without compromising the quality of learning. Conclusion: The EASY Minds intervention has highlighted the potential for integrating physical activity across the curriculum in mathematics as a viable option for classroom teachers to increase physical activity (PA) within the school setting and students’ on-task behavior, without sacrificing academic performance. EASY Minds offers a practical solution to the constraints to children’s school-based physical activity levels brought on by a crowded school curriculum. It may well be that future attempts to change school policy and practice in regard to physical activity promotion needs to focus on the academic benefits of such an approach to change teachers attitudes and beliefs.
- Subject
- physical activity; mathematics; primary school; engagement
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1313798
- Identifier
- uon:22641
- Rights
- Copyright 2016 Nicholas Riley
- Language
- eng
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