Darla M. Castelli

The effect of acute treadmill walking on cognitive control and academic achievement in preadolescent children

The effect of an acute bout of moderate treadmill walking on behavioral and neuroelectric indexes of the cognitive control of attention and applied aspects of cognition involved in school-based academic performance were assessed. A within-subjects design included 20 preadolescent participants (age=9.5+/-0.5 years; eight female) to assess exercise-induced changes in performance during a modified flanker task and the Wide Range Achievement Test 3. The resting session consisted of cognitive testing followed by a cardiorespiratory fitness assessment to determine aerobic fitness. The exercise session consisted of 20 min of walking on a motor-driven treadmill at 60% of estimated maximum heart rate followed by cognitive testing once heart rate returned to within 10% of pre-exercise levels. Results indicated an improvement in response accuracy, larger P3 amplitude, and better performance on the academic achievement test following aerobic exercise relative to the resting session. Collectively, these findings indicate that single, acute bouts of moderately-intense aerobic exercise (i.e. walking) may improve the cognitive control of attention in preadolescent children, and further support the use of moderate acute exercise as a contributing factor for increasing attention and academic performance. These data suggest that single bouts of exercise affect specific underlying processes that support cognitive health and may be necessary for effective functioning across the lifespan.

Aerobic Fitness and Cognitive Development: Event-Related Brain Potential and Task Performance Indices of Executive Control in Preadolescent Children

The relationship between aerobic fitness and executive control was assessed in 38 higher- and lower-fit children (M-sub(age) = 9.4 years), grouped according to their performance on a field test of aerobic capacity. Participants performed a flanker task requiring variable amounts of executive control while event-related brain potential responses and task performance were assessed. Results indicated that higher-fit children performed more accurately across conditions of the flanker task and following commission errors when compared to lower-fit children, whereas no group differences were observed for reaction time. Neuroelectric data indicated that P3 amplitude was larger for higher- compared to lower-fit children across conditions of the flanker task, and higher-fit children exhibited reduced error-related negativity amplitude and increased error positivity amplitude compared to lower-fit children. The data suggest that fitness is associated with better cognitive performance on an executive control task through increased cognitive control, resulting in greater allocation of attentional resources during stimulus encoding and a subsequent reduction in conflict during response selection. The findings differ from those observed in adult populations by indicating a general rather than a selective relationship between aerobic fitness and cognition.

The Physical Education Teacher as School Activity Director.

JOPERD • Volume 78 No. 5 • May/June 2007 N early half of youths between the ages of 12 and 21 are not vigorously active on a regular basis (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). If the educational setting is to play a role in meeting national health objectives for youths, the school environment needs to promote opportunities for physical activity. Hence, the purpose of this article is to help physical education teachers to start a comprehensive physical activity program that refl ects effective teaching practices, such as increased engagement during physical education and student accountability, and that emphasizes contemporary practices such as instant activity, modifi ed games, active recess, intramurals, drop-in activity periods, and participation in school wellness initiatives.

Preparing Physical Educators for the Role of Physical Activity Director.

JOPERD • Volume 80 No. 4 • April 2009 D uring her first year of teaching at Mountain Top Middle School, Lilly Rose learns that the school has just started a wellness committee. Composed of two grade-level teachers, the assistant principal, the cafeteria supervisor, and the school nurse, the committee is charged with promoting overall wellness for the school community. Ms. Rose attends the first meeting and learns that this year the committee will focus on physical activity promotion. To her surprise and dismay, the committee was putting forth ideas such as having students run laps during physical education and then during lunch. They also mentioned lining students up in the halls for daily stretching. Lilly tells the group about a comprehensive physical activity program she learned about during her physical education teacher preparation courses. The committee is impressed and wants to hear more. Lilly suggests working to implement one or two of the ideas she learned in her undergraduate training and expanding the program from there. Although this is her first year of teaching, Lilly feels that she, as the only physical education teacher at the school, is the best qualified person to lead the program. Thanks to her university courses, she is prepared to take on the role of school physical activity director. Change in educational programming and policy is inevitable. To this end, new teachers must be prepared to navigate the current school climate as well as have skills that are adaptable to future school reforms. Since June 1, 2006, schools receiving federal funding for a school meal program must develop and create a school wellness policy (Public Law 108-265, 2004). The wellness policy must address the school’s role in improving food service and the provision of physical activity opportunities for students. This mandate was intended to address health issues like childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes, in response to the call for schools to take on a leadership role in promoting physical activity for students, staff, and faculty (National Association for Sport and Physical Education [NASPE], 2008; Pate et al., 2006). In short, although schools have long been recognized as an ideal location for physical activity and health promotion, their role as leaders in these efforts is now being advocated. If schools are, in fact, to take a leadership role in physical activity promotion, this begs the question, “Who leads the leader?” In a recent two-part feature, JOPERD published a series of articles discussing the role of schools in promoting physical activity. Specifically, Castelli and Beighle (2007) argued that the physical educator is the ideal person in a school to take on the role of leader of the comprehensive school-based physical activity program (CSPAP). This leader is referred to as the school “physical activity director” (PAD). Physical educators are best suited for this role because they are the most qualified to work with students and physical activity. The preparation of physical education teachers for these roles falls on the shoulders of physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. That is, if physical educators are to take on the role of a PAD, PETE programs must prepare them for this role. Although physical educators are the most qualified Teacher education programs must give future physical educators the skills they need to fulfill their new role. Preparing Physical Educators for the Role of Physical Activity Director

Creating a Virtual Gymnasium

Physical educators struggle with the challenges of assessing student performance, providing feedback about motor skills, and creating opportunities for all students to engage in game-play on a daily basis. The integration of technology in the gymnasium can address some of these challenges by improving teacher efficiency and increasing student motivation. National and state accreditation guidelines require future teachers to have a mastery of basic technology skills. Adelphi University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have taken these standards one step further by requiring future teachers to apply their technology skills directly to physical education classes. The purpose of this article is to describe how physical education teachers are using video technology to create gamelike practice situations for use during secondary physical education instruction, and to help those who are unfamiliar with this technology to create their own videos to use in their teaching. We all know that less-skilled students avoid assessment opportunities, game-play situations, and public practice opportunities. The less-skilled students hesitation to perform in public venues stems from their fear of public humiliation due to their lower skill level. The virtual gym (VG) addresses this problem by providing a private opportunity for students to practice game-play situations without the public nature of full class exposure. Student choice (Condon & Collier, 2002) and technology integration (Solvberg, 2003) have both been shown to motivate students. Secondary students are eager to assume responsibility for their learning if given a say in how they are taught (Vatterott, 1995).The VG is specifically designed to provide students with the ability to choose the types and difficulty levels of skills to practice. Four levels of difficulty are available for students using the VG. Additionally, the integration of technology into instruction has been shown to enhance student problem-solving and criticalthinking skills (Hopson, Simms, & Knezek, 2002). From the teachers perspective, the VG provides an opportunity to assess student performance in game-play situations. When teachers hold students accountable for achieving performance standards, the teachers need to ensure that the students will be placed in applicable situations. It is rare for students to experience a full array of gameplay situations in a typical physical education class, so there needs to be a creative approach to assessment in order for teachers to obtain these accountability measures. The VG affords teachers the opportunity to assess student performance in virtual situations that can be designed by the students or their teachers. By using a digital video to capture footage of teacheror studentdirected game-play situations, a series of digital video assessment files can be created. These files simulate real situations that students can experience while being assessed by a peer or teacher.

We move kids-the consensus report from the roundtable to examine strategies for promoting walking in the school environment.

In conjunction with the Walking for Health Conference, a Roundtable with 12 physical education teachers and 11 pedagogy researchers and public health professionals was organized to initiate a dialog between practicing school teachers and a group of researchers to identify practical and effective strategies for increasing physical activity, particularly walking, in the school setting. Discussions were organized on the following major themes: (1) promoting physical activity, (2) barriers for physical activity promotion in children, and (3) integrating physical activity with other health behaviors in the curriculum. There was a focus that came through on strategies to overcome barriers to allow opportunities for students to increase their physical activity levels. These strategies require the commitment not only of physical education teachers but also of their fellow teachers, school administrators, parents, local community members, and of course the students themselves. The issue of limited resources continually came up, thus realistically limiting strategies to those that could be implemented without additional cost. Any progress to be made with respect to the implementation of these strategies depends on the infrastructure of support that can be built on the excellent recommendations provided by the Roundtable focus groups.