77 research outputs found
Research in physical education on display at the National Annual Conference
The poster presentations have now become an established and valued feature at the
afPE National Physical Education and School Sport Conference and a record number of
posters were on display at this year‟s event. The presentations offer an opportunity for
researchers, both new and more experienced, to share their research with delegates in
a relatively informal and relaxed setting. The research might be completed or represent
work in progress, and centre on any topic which broadly fits into the conference themes
of pedagogy, leadership or health
Posters put on quite a display at the National Annual Conference
Those of you who attended the afPE National Physical Education and School Sport
Conference in July will no doubt have seen the impressive array of posters on display
which featured a range of research projects and studies which are, or have recently
been conducted across and beyond the United Kingdom. The poster presentations were
included as part of the research strand to the conference and proved to be a great
success, generating not only an attractive visual display but a good deal of interest and
professional dialogue between the presenters and conference delegates
Research committee update
In the Winter edition of the journal, a new format for Research Matters was
introduced which we will be striving to move towards in subsequent editions.
Amongst a number of changes, I explained that the new format would include
regular updates for members on the work of the Research Committee. I therefore
just wanted to share with you a few recent developments and projects the
Committee have been involved with
Monitoring physical activity in children
Two main research problems were addressed within this thesis. Firstly, the construction of a selfreport
measure of physical activity (questionnaire) designed specifically for use with children and
secondly, the use of the measure to provide information on the activity levels of a sample of British
children.
Every effort was made in designing the self-report, to address as many of the problems associated
with the current measures as possible, and thereby to design an instrument which may improve
upon existing measures. The process involved a detailed review of the literature, implementation
of a number of recommendations from the literature, and a series of preliminary and pilot studies to
determine the content and feasibility of the questionnaire forms and the feasibility of the
administration procedures. Following the preliminary studies, the scoring procedure for the selfreport
measure was developed and the final format of the questionnaire established. The final
version was an interviewer administered questionnaire comprising two forms, a school day and a
weekend form.
Once designed, the measure was evaluated. The evaluation of the questionnaire involved
studies of the validity and reliability of the measure as well as the reliability of interviewers trained to
administer the questionnaire. The results of these studies proved favourable throughout and it
was declared that the measure was a valid and reliable measure of physical activity. The use of the
self-report measure to gather the activity information on a sample of British children in part two of
the research was thus well justified.
Part two of the research involved the administration of the self-report measure to gather activity
information on a final sample of 199 pupils. The questionnaire was administered according to
the method and protocols established in part one of the study. The findings of the study
revealed the majority of the pupils to be inactive. Low activity levels were reflected in the pupils'
activity scores and in the amount of time they spent in hard/very hard activity in particular. It was
declared that the health of many pupils in this study may be at risk and if these findings reflect
the activity levels of British children generally, then we may expect there to be serious
consequences for the future health of our young population
Association for Physical Education response to generation inactive
Association for Physical Education response to generation inactiv
School-based physical activity interventions: effectiveness, trends, issues, implications and recommendations for practice
The promotion of physical activity within schools and Physical Education
(PE) has attracted growing interest in recent years. Schools have been
acknowledged as the primary institution with responsibility for promoting
activity in young people and more specifically, school PE has been
recognized as having a key role to play. Given this, and based on previous
reviews of the findings of formally evaluated interventions, this paper
considers the evidence for the effectiveness of school based physical activity
interventions and highlights the key trends and a number of issues
concerning their type, target population, design, implementation and content.
Earlier reviews have provided comprehensive summaries of the
effectiveness of physical activity interventions but they have not provided
specific guidance for teachers’ practice in schools. Thus, whilst it is
acknowledged that the existing literature is not sufficiently extensive to
provide definitive guidelines for schools, this paper considers the
implications for practice and presents recommendations for future physical
activity programmes, initiatives and interventions
The role of physical education in addressing childhood obesity
This paper will focus on physical education and childhood
obesity and consider the role that the subject and profession can potentially and
sensibly play in addressing the issue. Firstly, and to inform the discussion, some of
the key facts, issues and considerations concerning childhood obesity will be
explored. Some of the formal guidance and recommendations that are available
on the issue will then be summarised, before concluding with some practical and
specific recommendations for physical education practice
The expert physical education advisory group
The expert physical education advisory grou
Children's fitness testing: A feasibility study
Objective: This study aimed to determine whether it was necessary, cost
effective and practical to investigate Welsh children’s fitness levels in order
to promote active, healthy lifestyles.
Design: A multi-method study comprising a comprehensive review of
literature, a questionnaire survey and interviews.
Setting: This was a feasibility study commissioned by the National
Assembly for Wales undertaken between October 2003 and March 2004.
Method: The methodology involved a world wide literature search carried
out using metalib and consultation with UK experts and stakeholders in
Wales via a questionnaire (n=35) and individual interviews (n=5). The
response rate for the questionnaire survey was 36.4%.
Results: The study indicated concern amongst experts and stakeholders
about Welsh children’s health, fitness and activity, but also revealed a
number of misconceptions about children’s fitness and fitness testing. The
study highlighted that the measurement of children’s fitness is fraught with
difficulties, including methodological limitations, the possible negative
impact on some children, and the relatively weak association between
children’s physical fitness and health. Additionally, utilising children’s
fitness test data to inform policy and practice was considered problematic
by the experts and stakeholders, and there was limited evidence from the
literature that previously conducted large scale surveys on children’s
fitness have positively impacted on children’s health, activity and fitness.
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Conclusion: It was concluded that a research project focusing solely on
fitness testing Welsh children is neither necessary, cost effective nor
practical. However, a ‘lifestyle oriented’ project including the monitoring of
physical activity was recommended as increasing activity levels is
achievable for all and the process which will lead to health gains
Achieving 'high quality' physical education: an intervention in a city school
High quality physical education (PE) should be an aspiration for all schools and is
considered to be important for many reasons, not least because it may help young people
to make informed lifestyle choices and encourage lifelong participation in physical activity
(Kirk, 2005). Moreover, the introduction of the Physical Education School Sport and Club
Links Strategy with the government’s target of “increasing the percentage of school
children who spend a minimum of two hours a week on high quality physical education and
school sport…’ (DfES & DCMS, 2004) has further highlighted the desire for and
importance of participation in high quality physical activity and PE.
It was within this context that researchers at Loughborough University were approached by
a local 11-18 city school and specialist sports college to guide them in their attainment of
high quality PE. Following a preliminary meeting with the PE staff, it was agreed to
conduct a research project on facilitating high quality teaching and learning in gymnastics.
Gymnastics was chosen because it was an area where some teachers at the school
lacked confidence and where existing planning and activities were considered to be
relatively uninspiring. The project has now been extended to another activity area
(athletics) with a view to identifying key principles that contribute to high quality across all
areas. This article, however, focuses on the initial research
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