Povezanost motoričkih sposobnosti i uspeha učenika mlađeg školskog uzrasta

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to investigate the relationship between motor skills and the development of students’ intellectual abilities, as well as the relationship between the results of motor skills tests and students’ school success. The research was cross-sectional. It was conducted in the second semester of the 2019/2020 school year in the Elementary school “17. oktobar” in Jagodina, on a sample of 60 third grade students. The sample was divides into two subsamples according to gender (30 girls and 30 boys). Five tests from the EUROFIT battery of tests were used to assess motor skills: Plate Tapping, Standing Long Jump, Sit and Reach, Bent-Arm Hang and 10 x 5 meter Shuttle Run. For measuring students’ school success, the final grades from five subjects were taken into consideration ‒ Serbian, English, Mathematics, World around us and Physical education. For each variable, the following descriptive statistical parameters were calculated: arithmetic mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum. Correlations were calculated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and differences between the groups using Student’s T-test for independent samples. A correlation was found in boys between the Plate Tapping motor test, which measures the repetitive strength of hands, and Serbian language with a value of −0.407. On the basis of the T-test, it was found that there were statistically significant differences in the Sit and Reach test in girls with a value of p = 0.000 compared to boys, as well as in the subject English, in favour of girls with a value of p = 0.014.