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Dissertation: Physical Education and Academic Performance – Literature Review. Part VII

Essays — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:37:16 +0000

Caterino and Polak (1999) conducted a second study that looked at the effects physical activity had on concentration. Administrators and teachers are constantly criticizing what part of the school day that physical education should take place. There is a constant concern that physical education will influence testing and classroom learning. This study was a follow up study that Caterino and Polak conducted in 1994. In the previous study, fourth grade was the only grade used.
Caterino et al. administered the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Concentration to a group of second, third and fourth graders. The students in the test were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: classroom activity or physical activity. Grade two consisted of 54 students, with 27 in each group. Grade three was made up of 71 students with 36 in the classroom group and 35 in the physical activity group. Grade four consisted of 52 students with 27 in the classroom group and 25 in the physical activity group.
According to Caterino and Polak (1999), the classroom activities group did not use pre-designed activities; however, all activities were grade level appropriate, and approved through weekly lesson plans. On the day of the test, the classroom activities group went immediately into the library to take the test, while the physical activities group went into the gym to stretch and walk. The physical activity group remained in the gym for 15 minutes then went directly to take the test. Both groups were given the same test with the same instructions.
Date from Caterino and Polak (1999) were analyzed using both a one-way ANOVA and a two-way ANOVA. The Scheffe multiple comparison test was also used. The one-way ANOVA was performed on fourth grade scores. The results indicated that the mean concentration score of the physical activity group was significantly greater than that of the classroom activity group (p = .05). The two-way ANOVA showed overall significance (p = .001). However, when the mean scores were compared between grades two and three, they were not significant. Furthermore, the Scheffe test revealed no significant differences between grades two and three, but showed that the physical activity group in the fourth grade out performed the classroom activity group.
The Caterino and Polak (1999) study was important in demonstrating how that physical education does not interfere with concentration levels of the students who were tested. This supports other studies that claim that physical education should not be cut in order to achieve academic success. (Caterino & Polak, 1993; Caterino, & Polak, 1999; Labarre, Jequier, Shephard, Lavalle, & Rajic, 1984; Shephard, 1997; Dwyer, Coonan, Leitch, Hetzel, & Baghurst, 1983; Janz, Dawson, & Mahoney, 2000; Sallis, McKenzie, Kolody, Lewis, Marshall & Rosengard, 1999)
Shephard and Lavalle (1994) examined the value of field performance test in assessing enhanced physical education programs. It was an experimental design that took place in two primary schools in Quebec. One school was located in a middle class suburb of Trois Rivieres (population 100,000), and the other from the village of Pont Rouge (population about 4000). The study consisted of 546 volunteer students between grades one-six. There were 161 boys and 134 girls in the four experimental classes, and 128 boys and 123 girls in the control classes. Two hundred thirty six of the subjects were from the urban school and 310 from the rural school. The two schools each had two experimental classes and two control classes. The control classes preceded and immediately succeeded the experimental groups. The guidelines for the experiment were that the control groups received the norm of a single physical education class per week, taught by a non-specialist. The experimental group received one hour of extra physical education daily, taught by a physical education specialist.
Shephard and Lavalle (1994) measured each subject using the Canadian Association for Physical Education and Recreation (CAHPER) field performance test. This test was administered in early June and late October each year. Within two weeks of their birthday, the students were measured for aerobic power and muscle strength. The focus of the experimental group was to provide cardiovascular and muscular endurance activities. The increase of their heart rate was the main goal. Categories that were measured by the researchers were peak oxygen intake, muscular strength, and Body mass index. There were six items on the CAHPER performance that were observed.
Data were analyzed using Shephard and Lavalle (1994) MANOVA to compare the differences between groups. The results for the physical characteristics showed only significant differences among girls’ age seven and eight in relation to height. The girls in the urban schools were significantly taller than the girls in the rural school. The performance test showed that the boys were significantly (p < .05) superior in 29 of 36 comparisons. The boys also had higher peak oxygen intake at a significant level (p < .05). The MANOVA also showed that the experimental group reported a higher average strength. This was significant in 21 of 36 tests (p < .05).

Dissertation: Physical Education and Academic Performance – Literature Review. Part VI

Essays — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:58:29 +0000

Janz et al (2000) examined several different areas: body composition, sexual maturation, aerobic physical fitness, muscular fitness, and physical activity. All of the data analysis was stratified by gender. The data from year 1 of the study was compared to the data of year 5 using a Wilcoxon signed rank test, to determine if there were changes over time. Fitness and physical activity were measured two different ways. First, the Spearman rank correlation coefficients were calculated to determine how well year five results were predicted in year one. Second, they were categorized into tertiles. The statistical significance of tracking the tertiles was assessed using Kendall’s tau-b. The subjects received one yearly physical examination for five years, and they received a total of 20 examinations, four per year, to assess physical activity and body composition.
Janz et al (2000) examined the results from the 5-year study and discovered that, mean body mass, height, and fat free mass increased each year for both boys and girls. By year four, 42% of the boys were in post or late puberty (mean age 13.8yr), and by year five, 75% of the girls were in late or post puberty (mean age 14.2yr). Peak VO2 was significantly greater (p < 0.05) in year one than year five for the boys and girls, with girls being two times greater than boys were. There were no significant differences in peak HR from year one to year five. Peak O2 pulse increased from year one to year five in both boys and girls. The Spearman correlation between variables assessed at year five compared to year one generally showed a decline in the strength of the association over the 5-year time period. The correlation was used to determine the tracking predictability. In boys and girls, peak power, peak grip strength, and peak VO2 showed the highest degree of tracking. In boys, the peak power and peak grip had correlation ranges from 0.68 to 0.90. Peak VO2, peak HR, peak O2 pulse. Girl’s results were similar with a few exceptions. Peak power and peak grip showed the highest degree of tracking with correlation range from 0.52 to 0.80.
The results that were compiled by Janz et al (2000) demonstrated important information in regard to the predictability and tracking of physical fitness and both vigorous and sedentary activity. These variables were shown to be stable and very capable of being tracked from childhood to adolescence. The study indicated that boys tend to settle into fitness and activity patterns sooner than girls do. The fact that sedentary activity was stable throughout the study seems to warrant that there should be early intervention for females. This study clearly indicated that certain variables associated with physical fitness and physical activity can be accurately tracked from childhood to adolescence.
Caterino and Polak (1993) conducted a study on the effects that three types of activity have on performance on a test of concentration among fourth grade children. This study was an experimental study used to further investigate the benefits of physical activity. The researchers believed that by conducting the study they would show that physical activity at worst, had no detrimental impact towards concentration.
Caterino and Polak’s (1993) experiment was a one-day study in which 60 fourth grade students were randomly assigned to three separate treatment groups. The three groups were a recess group, (n=19) passive activity group, (n=20) and physical activity group (n=21).
According to Caterino and Polak (1993), the experiment took place immediately after lunch. The subjects reported to their assigned groups, and for the next 15 minutes they participated in their groups’ assigned activity. The recess group was allowed to play freely as normal. The passive group viewed a Garfield videotape in the library, while the physical activity group engaged in 15-minutes of stretching and aerobic walking. At the end of the 15-minute period all three treatments reported to an all-purpose room and took the Woodcock-Johnson (1989) test of concentration.
Caterino and Polak (1993) indicated that data collected from an ANOVA showed that there were no significant differences between the three treatments. However, it did show that there were significant differences between fourth grade males and females (p < .02), in favor of females. The fact that there were no differences between the three groups indicates that there is no reason to worry about the time that physical education is scheduled in regards to the curriculum. The report of the differences between the males and females show that there needs to be further research to determine what extent the independent factors of academic ability test taking ability and the ability to concentrate had on the test results. While there were no significant differences, the means of the physical activity group were higher than the other two groups.