Abstract
BackgroundSchool-based physical education is an important public health initiative as it has the potential to provide students with regular opportunities to participate in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Unfortunately, in many physical education lessons students do not engage in sufficient MVPA to achieve health benefits. In this trial we will test the efficacy of a teacher professional development intervention, delivered partially via the Internet, on secondary school students’ MVPA during physical education lessons. Teaching strategies covered in this training are designed to (i) maximize opportunities for students to be physically active during lessons and (ii) enhance students’ autonomous motivation towards physical activity.MethodA two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial with allocation at the school level (intervention vs. usual care control). Teachers and Year 8 students in government-funded secondary schools in low socio-economic areas of the Western Sydney region of Australia will be eligible to participate. During the main portion of the intervention (6 months), teachers will participate in two workshops and complete two implementation tasks at their school. Implementation tasks will involve video-based self-reflection via the project’s Web 2.0 platform and an individualized feedback meeting with a project mentor. Each intervention school will also complete two group peer-mentoring sessions at their school (one per term) in which they will discuss implementation with members of their school physical education staff. In the booster period (3 months), teachers will complete a half-day workshop at their school, plus one online implementation task, and a group mentoring session at their school. Throughout the entire intervention period (main intervention plus booster period), teachers will have access to online resources. Data collection will include baseline, post-intervention (7–8 months after baseline) and maintenance phase (14–15 months after baseline) assessments. Research assistants blinded to group allocation will collect all data. The primary outcome will be the proportion of physical education lesson time that students spend in MVPA. Secondary outcomes will include leisure-time physical activity, subjective well-being, and motivation towards physical activity.DiscussionThe provision of an online training platform for teachers could help facilitate more widespread dissemination of evidence-based interventions compared with programs that rely exclusively on face-to-face training.Trial registrationAustralia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry-ACTRN12614000184673. Registration date: February 19, 2014. Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2583-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
School-based physical education is an important public health initiative as it has the potential to provide students with regular opportunities to participate in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)
The provision of an online training platform for teachers could help facilitate more widespread dissemination of evidence-based interventions compared with programs that rely exclusively on face-to-face training
Physical education (PE) is the primary vehicle responsible for physical activity promotion in schools and has the potential to provide students with regular opportunities to be physically active. In many of these lessons students do not engage in sufficient moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) to achieve health benefits [2,3,4]
Summary
School-based physical education is an important public health initiative as it has the potential to provide students with regular opportunities to participate in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). In many physical education lessons students do not engage in sufficient MVPA to achieve health benefits In this trial we will test the efficacy of a teacher professional development intervention, delivered partially via the Internet, on secondary school students’ MVPA during physical education lessons. In many of these lessons students do not engage in sufficient moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) to achieve health benefits [2,3,4] In this trial we will test the effect of a PE teacher professional development intervention, delivered partially via the Internet, on students’ MVPA during PE lessons. If MVPA during PE and leisure time can be increased, youth can be expected to realize a variety of benefits, including enhanced self-concept [5], better quality of life [6], greater engagement at school [7], better academic results [8] and improved physical health [9]
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