Spyridoula Vazou

Integrating movement in academic classrooms: understanding, applying and advancing the knowledge base

In the context of comprehensive and coordinated approaches to school health, academic classrooms have gained attention as a promising setting for increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary time among children. The aims of this paper are to review the rationale and knowledge base related to movement integration in academic classrooms, consider the practical applications of current knowledge to interventions and teacher education, and suggest directions for future research. Specifically, this paper (i) situates movement integration amid policy and research related to childrens health and the school as a health‐promoting environment; (ii) highlights the benefits of movement integration; (iii) summarizes movement integration programs and interventions; (iv) examines factors associated with classroom teachers’ movement integration; (v) offers strategies for translating research to practice and (vi) forwards recommendations for future inquiry related to the effectiveness and sustainability of efforts to integrate movement into classroom routines. This paper provides a comprehensive resource for developing state‐of‐the‐art initiatives to maximize childrens movement in academic classrooms as a key strategy for important goals in both education and public health.

Moving and academic learning are not antagonists: acute effects on executive function and enjoyment.

Classroom-based physical activity is a new approach aiming to improve both physical activity levels and academic achievement. This study investigated the acute effect of a 10-min bout of aerobic physical activity integrated with math practice, compared with a seated math practice, on executive function and enjoyment among normal-weight (n = 24) and overweight children (n = 11). Thirty-five typically developing prepubescent children (10.55 ± 0.74 years) completed a session of physical activity integrated with math practice and a seated math practice session in counterbalanced order. Results showed that following integrated physical activity, the response time in the Standard Flanker improved more than after seated practice. Among the overweight children, physical activity benefitted performance in the Standard Flanker by preventing the decline associated with seated practice. Children enjoyed the physical activity practice more than the seated practice. These findings suggest that integrating physical activity with academic instruction may be a realistic strategy for promoting physical activity because it may facilitate, not antagonize, executive function.

More than one road leads to Rome: A narrative review and meta-analysis of physical activity intervention effects on cognition in youth

A growing body of research indicates that physical activity (PA) positively impacts cognitive function in youth. However, not all forms of PA benefit cognition equally. The purpose of this review was to determine the effect of different types of chronic PA interventions on cognition in children and adolescents. A systematic search of electronic databases and examination of the reference lists of relevant studies resulted in the identification of 28 studies. Seven categories of PA were identified, based on all possible combinations of three types of PA (aerobic, motor skill, cognitively engaging), and four comparison groups (no treatment, academic, traditional physical education (PE), aerobic). Effect sizes were calculated based on means and SDs at the post-test using Hedge’s g formula, which includes a correction for small sample bias. Each study was only entered once in each intervention-comparator category. Full data were provided from 21 studies (28 effect sizes; n = 2042 intervention; n = 2002 comparison group). Overall, chronic PA interventions had a significant small-to-moderate effect on cognition (0.46). Moderate significant positive effects were identified when PA interventions were compared to no treatment (0.86) or academic content (0.57). A non-significant effect was noted when PA interventions were compared to traditional PE (0.09) or aerobic group (0.80). However, high heterogeneity in pooled effect sizes suggests that important differences in the qualitative characteristics of the PA intervention and comparison interventions may exist. Effect sizes based on comparisons between different types of PA interventions and comparison groups are discussed in order to identify possible directions for future investigations. We conclude that chronic PA interventions have a positive impact on cognitive function in youth, but more systematic research is needed in this area.

Deliberate play and preparation jointly benefit motor and cognitive development : mediated and moderated effects

In light of the interrelation between motor and cognitive development and the predictive value of the former for the latter, the secular decline observed in motor coordination ability as early as preschool urges identification of interventions that may jointly impact motor and cognitive efficiency. The aim of this study was twofold. It (1) explored the outcomes of enriched physical education (PE), centered on deliberate play and cognitively challenging variability of practice, on motor coordination and cognitive processing; (2) examined whether motor coordination outcomes mediate intervention effects on children’s cognition, while controlling for moderation by lifestyle factors as outdoor play habits and weight status. Four hundred and sixty children aged 5–10 years participated in a 6-month group randomized intervention in PE, with or without playful coordinative and cognitive enrichment. The weight status and spontaneous outdoor play habits of children (parental report of outdoor play) were evaluated at baseline. Before and after the intervention, motor developmental level (Movement Assessment Battery for Children) was evaluated in all children, who were then assessed either with a test of working memory (Random Number Generation task), or with a test of attention (from the Cognitive Assessment System). Children assigned to the ‘enriched’ intervention showed more pronounced improvements in all motor coordination assessments (manual dexterity, ball skills, static/dynamic balance). The beneficial effect on ball skills was amplified by the level of spontaneous outdoor play and weight status. Among indices of executive function and attention, only that of inhibition showed a differential effect of intervention type. Moderated mediation showed that the better outcome of the enriched PE on ball skills mediated the better inhibition outcome, but only when the enrichment intervention was paralleled by a medium-to-high level of outdoor play. Results suggest that specifically tailored physical activity (PA) games provide a unique form of enrichment that impacts children’s cognitive development through motor coordination improvement, particularly object control skills, which are linked to children’s PA habits later in life. Outdoor play appears to offer the natural ground for the stimulation by designed PA games to take root in children’s mind.

Rethinking Recommendations for Implementing Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs: A Partnership Model

Recommended approaches to promoting children’s physical activity through schools call for physical education teachers to serve as champions for, and leaders of, Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAPs). Little evidence, however, exists to suggest that physical education teachers are ideally prepared or supported to assume CSPAP leadership roles. The purpose of this article is to consider expectations that must be met for physical education teachers to serve as central protagonists in CSPAP implementation efforts, and to propose a conceptual model aimed at increasing both effectiveness and sustainability of CSPAPs through key external-internal partnerships. Specifically, community-based participatory research, communities of practice, and service-learning are presented as possible strategies to expand the support system for growing and sustaining CSPAPs. In sum, this article offers some reasons for rethinking current recommendations for CSPAP implementation.

Variability of practice as an interface between motor and cognitive development

In this commentary, we highlight intriguing commonalities between the research areas of exercise and cognition and motor skill development and learning. While these two research domains have developed on separate tracks, the focus on variability of practice is central to both. We adopt a joint sport science and neuroscience approach to identify the characteristics of designed motor learning experiences that can impact brain plasticity and cognitive development. Novelty, diversity, effort, and successfulness seem essential ingredients to render learning experiences meaningful to this aim. All these characteristics belong to the construct of variability as it is conceived in the informational and ecological approaches to motor skill learning. To transition theory into practice, we discuss how variability of practice can impact cognitive and particularly executive function development. In this context, we address the role of flexibility training to support key transitions in the development of cognitive control, looking at the relation between repetition and change in physical activity in terms of trade-offs between costs and benefits of stability and flexibility. We conclude by reframing variability of practice into emerging models of embodied cognition, highlighting the potential of the proposed intersection of chronic exercise and cognition, cognitive development, and motor learning evidence to unwrap a new venue for sport sciences and quality physical education.

Intervention integrating physical activity with math: Math performance, perceived competence, and need satisfaction

Integrating physical activity (PA) with academics in the classroom is a newly explored approach, promising to improve both PA and academic achievement. The purposes of this study were to examine (a) the effect of lessons integrating PA with math, compared to traditional lessons, on math performance and perceived competence in math over an 8-week period, and (b) whether perceived competence in math and need satisfaction associated with the integrated lessons could predict math performance at the end of the intervention. Fourteen 4th and 5th grade classes were assigned to an integrated PA group (N = 106; using the “Move for Thought” kit), or a control group (N = 118; traditional lessons). A measure of perceived competence in math and a comprehensive, timed math test were completed before and after the intervention by both groups. Perceived need satisfaction associated with the integrated lessons was measured at the end of the intervention. The improvement in math performance in the integrated PA group was significantly larger compared to that of the control group. Perceived competence for math remained high and stable over time in both groups. Hierarchical regression analysis, controlling for gender and pretest math performance, showed that both perceived competence in math and satisfaction of the need for competence associated with the integrated lessons significantly predicted posttest math performance. This study makes a unique contribution to the literature on Self-Determination Theory-based interventions for enhancing academic performance by examining the effects of integrating PA with an academic subject.

Partnerships for Active Children in Elementary Schools: Outcomes of a 2-Year Pilot Study to Increase Physical Activity During the School Day

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of the pilot study Partnerships for Active Children in Elementary Schools on the percentage of children achieving the Institute of Medicine guideline of 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during the school day. Design: Pre/multiple post-quasi-experimental. Setting: Four elementary schools. Participants: Physical education (n = 3) and classroom teachers (n = 12) and students (n = 229). Intervention: Partnerships for Active Children in Elementary Schools was a multicomponent, theory-driven intervention facilitated through school–university partnerships. Intervention approaches included communities of practice, community-based participatory research, and service learning. Measures: Accelerometer-derived percentage of children accumulating 30 minutes of MVPA during the school day. Analysis: Multilevel mixed-effects regression estimated MVPA differences over time. Results: Compared to control, a 2.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.0% to 4.8%) and 8.8% (95% CI: −0.3% to 15.4%) increase in the percentage of time girls and boys engaged in MVPA during the school day was observed. The percentage of boys and girls in the intervention group achieving 30 minutes of MVPA/day increased from 57.5% to 70.7% and 35.4% to 56.9%, respectively. Boys and girls in the control group decreased from 61.5% to 56.4% and 52.6% to 41.9%, respectively. However, these changes did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: Partnerships for Active Children in Elementary Schools demonstrated meaningful impact on children’s MVPA during the school day by increasing boys’ and girls’ MVPA. However, additional strategies may be required to help schools achieve the Institute of Medicine guideline.

Mediated Effects of Perceived Competence on Youth Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior.

Purpose: This study evaluates whether physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) are influenced by a common mediating relationship. Method: A total of 1,552 participants in 3rd to 12th grade completed an online survey that included assessments of PA at school (PAS), PA at home (PAH), and SB as well as a battery of psychosocial variables (i.e., attraction to PA and perceived competence). Results: Perceived competence had a direct positive effect on PA and a negative effect on SB. These associations were consistently (but partially) mediated by attraction to PA; however, the indirect effect (IE) of perceived competence was stronger for PAH (IE = .27, p < .05) than for PAS (IE = .07, p < .05), or SB (IE = .13, p < .05). Conclusions: This study revealed some direct effects and IEs of perceived competence on PAS, PAH, and SB through attraction to PA as the mediator. PA and SB may be influenced by some common underlying psychosocial mediators.

Measurement and invariance characteristics of psychosocial correlates of youth physical activity

OBJECTIVES Physical inactivity needs to be strategically addressed from and throughout childhood and adolescence. The youth physical activity promotion model provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and promoting physical activity in youth. This study examined psychometric characteristics of the childrens attraction to physical activity scale and the perceived physical competence scale, two frequently utilized instruments to measure the underlying predisposing factors emphasized in the youth physical activity promotion model. DESIGN A cross-sectional correlational research design was utilized to address the research purposes. METHODS Participants (N=1563) were involved with a large school-based initiative involving 19 schools in two U.S. states. The childrens attraction to physical activity and perceived physical competence scales were administered in the schools by the physical education teachers using a customized online platform. Confirmatory factory analysis and invariance model testing (i.e., configural, metric, and scalar invariances) were conducted with the Linear Structural Relations 8.8 software. RESULTS The results supported the multidimensionality of the childrens attraction to physical activity scale and demonstrated that the 6-factor measurement model was invariant by gender and mostly invariant by school level (elementary, middle, high). The scalar non-invariance across school levels was attributed to weak psychometric properties in two of the childrens attraction to physical activity subscales (i.e., peer acceptance and fun of physical exertion). CONCLUSIONS The findings support the utility of the childrens attraction to physical activity and perceived physical competence for capturing predisposing factors within the youth physical activity promotion model but document the need for refinements in several key subscales.