Teaching Games for Understanding Intervention to Promote Physical Activity among Secondary School Students

Min Wang,Lijuan Wang

doi:10.1155/2018/3737595

Abstract

Objectives This study investigated the effectiveness of Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) intervention on the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels of students from Grades 9 and 10. Methods A total of 118 students from four classes (two TGfU groups and two technique groups) participated in this study. Accelerometers were used to measure the MVPA time of students, and formal interviews were conducted to identify the factors that contributed to the MVPA level of students in TGfU classes. Results The results reveal that the TGfU [t (1, 57) = - 11.622, p <.001, and d =.841] and technical [t (1, 61) = -4.232, p <.001, and d =.236] group exhibited significantly improved MVPA levels in intervention phase. During the intervention period, the MVPA time of the TGfU group (M = 20.26, SD = 3.74) was significantly longer than that of the technique group [M = 17.62, SD = 3.37, t (1, 118) = 4.023, p < .001, and d = .35]. Moreover, in the TGfU classes, boys (M=21.476, SD =.719) spent significantly more time engaging in MVPA than girls (M = 19.135, SD = .645) [F (1, 57) = 5.807, p = .019, and η2= .09]. However, no significant differences were determined between the MVPA levels of high- and low-skilled students. Data gathered through interviews suggested that the nature of the games, the small-sided team, and the freedom and enjoyment experienced by the students through games may explain the high MVPA levels observed in the TGfU classes. ConclusionTGfU intervention can potentially be used to promote physical activities and attain the recommended MVPA time in PE classes (50% class time).

Highlights

Physical activity (PA) is a key component of a healthy lifestyle for the youth [1, 2]
By summarizing the studies on PA in elementary, middle school, and high school physical education (PE) classes, the two reviews concluded that elementary school students spent 34.2% of class time engaging in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), whereas middle and high school students spent approximately 27%-47% [9, 10]
A total of 11 subjects were found to have missing data or serve as outliers (MVPA time of two students in a certain PE class was less than one minute because of accelerometer malfunction) and were removed, as they could potentially bias the results

Summary

Introduction

Physical activity (PA) is a key component of a healthy lifestyle for the youth [1, 2]. Several surveys have revealed that Chinese children and adolescents live nonactive lifestyles because of the ongoing pressure to obtain scholastic achievements [3, 4]. Such findings have led to numerous researchers recommending school-based physical education (PE) interventions due to their effectiveness in increasing the PA levels of students [5, 6]. By summarizing the studies on PA in elementary, middle school, and high school PE classes, the two reviews concluded that elementary school students spent 34.2% of class time engaging in MVPA, whereas middle and high school students spent approximately 27%-47% [9, 10]. Due to the difficulty of increasing the frequency or duration of PE classes within existing school programs, Slingerland and Borghouts (2011) proposed the modification of teaching strategies and programs to increase the PA levels of students [13]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion