Abstract
Despite the general agreement that the interdisciplinary model of physical education (PE), based on the incorporation of core academic subjects into the PE curriculum, stimulates the holistic development of students, there is still a lack of methods for its implementation. Therefore, Eduball was created, i.e., a method that uses educational balls with printed letters, numbers, and other signs. Numerous studies have shown that children participating in activities with Eduballs can develop their physical fitness while simultaneously improving their academic performance, particularly in math and language, including some writing skills. However, little is known about the effects of Eduball on children’s graphomotor skills, which are key for the academic performance of students throughout the entire schooling process. Here, we investigate whether 6-month participation in PE with Eduball stimulates graphomotor skills in primary school students, such as drawing prehandwriting letter patterns on unlined or lined paper and rewriting text on unlined or lined paper. Our results show that the Eduball class (N = 28) significantly improved these skills compared to the control class (N = 26) participating in traditional PE. For example, students from the experimental group wrote with a lower pen pressure and better stability of the line, in contrast to those from the control group. Therefore, this study demonstrates that the Eduball method successfully supports teachers in developing graphomotor skills in children. More broadly, our findings make clear once again that there is the need to integrate physical and cognitive development in education, which can be achieved by using an interdisciplinary model of PE.
Highlights
Cognitive and physical development are undoubtedly closely related and to some extent interdependent (Samuelsson and Carlsson, 2008; Vazou and Smiley-Oyen, 2014; Lindt and Miller, 2017)
At the beginning of the experiment, there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of graphomotor skills, both taking into account the results of individual trials of the test (Figures 2A–D), as well as the overall test result (Figure 2E)
Our study shows that 6 months of participation in physical education (PE) with Eduball stimulates such graphomotor skills by primary school students as drawing prehandwriting letter patterns on unlined or lined paper and rewriting text on unlined or lined paper
Summary
Cognitive and physical development are undoubtedly closely related and to some extent interdependent (Samuelsson and Carlsson, 2008; Vazou and Smiley-Oyen, 2014; Lindt and Miller, 2017). The time devoted to PE is still being reduced or its reduction is being considered (its instructional time already corresponds to slightly less than 10% of the total taught time at school, EACEA, 2013), and PE itself becomes only a short form of physical activity, focused on developing physical and health literacy and active lifestyles, and the prevention of chronic diseases and mental health disorders (World Health Organization, 2018), devoid of cognitive aspects (Cone et al, 2009; Tomporowski et al, 2015; Zach et al, 2016). The concept of an interdisciplinary model of PE is not new, there is still a lack of methods or tools for its implementation (Cone et al, 2009)
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