Dissertation: Physical Education and Academic Performance – Literature Review. Part III
Shephard (1997) conducted a metanalysis of previous studies that examined the impact of daily physical education on academic performance. He focused on studies performed in Vanves, France, Australia, Trois Rivieres, and Quebec. All of these studies focused on academic performance when a substantial amount of the school day (14-26 percent) was allocated to physical activity.
According to Shephard (1997), the Vanves study was conducted in 1950, and was a longitudinal, experimental study. Students at an experimental school had their school week lengthened from 32 hours to 41.5 hours. Academic instruction was reduced by 26 percent and was limited to the mornings. The afternoons consisted of a wide variety of physical activity, along with two nap (rest) periods between 1:00 and 1:30 and 4:30 to 5:00. The experimental group was also given regular vitamin supplements. The control group was a nonrandomized-selected group of students from other schools in Paris. Results were measured by the percent of students that passed the end of grade test otherwise known as the “certificate of study”. One out of 14 experimental students failed the “certificate of study”. Despite having academic instruction cut by 26 percent, there were no differences between experimental and control groups in the number of students who failed the test. It was also reported Shephard (1997) that the students in the experimental group appeared more calm and attentive, with fewer disciplinary problems.
Shephard (1997) also reported on the Australian study, otherwise known as the SHAPE study. The School Health, Academic Performance and Exercise study involved 519 fifth grade students from seven self-selected schools in Adelaid, Australia. The study was an experimental study involving three groups; fitness, skill, and control. The students were randomly selected to participate in a 14-week study in one of the three groups. The fitness and skill group each received 75 minutes of physical activity daily, with 15 minutes taking place in the early morning. The only difference was the focus of each group. The fitness group focused on fitness-oriented material, while the skill group worked on skill development. The control group received 30 minutes of physical education per week. Forms of measurement included skin fold assessment, PWC (physical work capacity at a heart rate of 170), arithmetic, reading, and classroom behavior. There was no information given on the types of test used to obtain this data. There were also no reports of a p value given in Shephard (1997).
The results were consistent with other related studies (Caterino & Polak, 1993; Caterino, & Polak, 1999; Labarre, Jequier, Shephard, Lavalle, & Rajic, 1984). Despite having reduced academic instruction time, the experimental group showed no significant differences in regards to arithmetic or reading gains. There was a trend towards a gain in arithmetic scores and a significant gain in behavior scores in the fitness group according to Shephard (1997). The fitness group faired the best on the skin fold test by decreasing an average of 1.3 mm while on the PWC, they increased by an average of 14 W. The skill group had a slight increase in skin fold at 0.4 mm and a small increase of PWC of less than 10 W. The control group had the worst scores with an average increase in skin folds at 0.9 mm and the smallest increase in PWC with an average barely over 8 W.
One weakness of the study was the length. The duration was only14 weeks. Subjects were not randomly selected which damages the internal validity. The lack of information on the types of test in Shephard (1997) also made the study very weak. There were no p values given for the data. Small sample size also showed a weakness. The study did however measure many variables, which was a positive aspect. The results definitely suggested that further research should be done.
Shephard (1997) also reported on the Trois Rivieres study. This study was an experimental field study that involved 546 primary school students from an urban and rural school. The experimental group received an extra hour of physical education daily, taught by a physical education specialist. Control students were selected from classes that preceded or succeeded the experimental classes at the same schools. They received only the normal amount of physical education, which was one 40-minute class a week taught by a non-specialist. The control group received 13-14 percent more academic instruction. Academic achievement was measured by unweighted classroom marks in French, math, English (upper grades only), natural science and conduct (based on the average of five annual assessments).
