Action Research Project:

Exploring the Benefits of Incorporating Daily Physical Activity into the Classroom

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Overview

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Daily physical activity for students has become a popular field of interest and a frequently discussed topic in pedagogical practices. As we know, youth inactivity and sedentary is a growing epidemic in society (Ball & McCargar, 2003; Statistic Canada, 2013; William, 1998.). Reminiscent of adults, many children are not motivated to engage in physical activity (Glyn, 2001). The desired outcome of the DPA is to increase the students’ level of focus and involvement and to encourage the daily incorporation of healthy habits. In 2005, the Ministry of Education in Ontario, Canada, released the 

Daily Physical Activity (DPA) policy requiring school boards to “ensure that all elementary students, including students with special needs, have a minimum of twenty minutes of sustained MVPA each school day during instructional time” (Allison et al., 2016). This research paper aims to answer the question “Does DPA help to increase students' school performance?”.

 

Existing Research

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There exists much research that examines topics related to the benefits of incorporating daily physical activity into the classroom. This research highlights the importance of incorporating DPA into the classroom, as it is an integral component of health and wellness. The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute conducted a study on 

Daily Physical Activity for Children and Youth and presented several potential benefits, including: 

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• chronic disease risk reduction 

• enhanced cognitive function and academic performance 

• enhanced body image and self-esteem. 

• obesity risk reduction 

(Bates, 2006). 

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Furthermore, one study about Physical Activity and Student Performance at School suggests that DPA provides an opportunity for students to enhance their social skills, often resulting in beneficial academic outcomes, such as students learning to work cooperatively (Taras, 2005). This study notes that this enhancement of social skills often results in students discovering and testing their abilities, and in wanting to challenge themselves. In addition, another study conducted by CPHA Public Health in Ontario also found that children who engaged in DPA every day were significantly more active than their peers (Stone et al., 2012). Previous Research on the benefits of implementing DPA into the classroom has also found that this practice not only benefits students' physical health but their mental health as well (Allison et al., 2016). However, it is important to note that in order to unlock these benefits, the students must enjoy the DPA tasks. If not, the students will be bored, not motivated, and/or not engaged. Incorporating DPA in the classroom has also been shown to promote an optimal psychological state that leads to performing an activity for its own sake and is associated with a positive feeling state (Kimiecik et al., 1996). Other authors add that enjoyment enhancement is a multidimensional construct (Weiss & Amorose, 2008). In other words, enjoyment enhancement strives to establish an intrinsic motivation by a medium of positive experiences. 

 

Data collection 

During our practicum placements, we had ample opportunities to observe the benefits of incorporating daily physical activities into our pedagogical practice. This included the opportunity to record our observations, as well as collecting data from student feedback. In all of our classrooms, our Associate Teachers had already implemented DPA within their daily programs. This, therefore, facilitated our action-based research. Due to being in different schools, we combined our results and one date analysis. Our action-based research examined the impact of daily physical activity consisting of 

10-20 minutes of teacher-led DPA in the classroom. The student results were measured using a short survey administered with different styles of DPA, providing multiple choice answers. The survey took approximately a few minutes to complete with the students. The survey was administered at different times during our practicum. 

The questions included within our survey were the following and most of them were asked before and after performing DPA: 

- How often do you feel focused in the classroom? 

- How often do you feel energetic in school? 

- How often do you feel ready to learn in school? 

- How often do you feel anxious in school? 

- How often do you feel relaxed in school? 

- Does DPA make you feel happy? 

- Do you prefer doing indoor DPA or outdoor DPA? 

- When do you prefer to have DPA? (morning, mid-day, end of the day) 

- Which form of DPA activity is your favourite? ( Go Noodle, Just Dance, Silent Ball) 

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Data Analysis 

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Following from our data collection, we merged our results to encompass a population of 62 students. The students ranged from Grade 3 to Grade 6. There was one Grade 3 class consisting of 17 students, wherein there were 5 students with IEPs and 3 ELLs. There was one Grade 5 class, wherein there were 3 students with IEPs. Lastly, there was one Grade 6 class wherein there were 3 students with IEPs. 

 

Class profiles: 

Marlene - 17 students grade 3 (5 IEP, 3 ELL) Meryem - 24 students grade 5 (3IEP) 

Marie - 21 grade 6 ( 3 IEP) 

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Question 1: 

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There were significant differences in student reports of feeling focused before and after having DPA implemented in their classrooms. As clearly shown, the students felt much more focused after doing DPA activities. 

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Question 2: 

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With this data, we can observe the consistency in the results surrounding student benefits from implementing DPA in the classroom. The results clearly show that the students feel more energetic after the DPA session. 

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Question 3: 

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The data clearly shows a positive correlation between the implementation of DPA and the students’ readiness to learn. With this information, we can observe that the students feel that they are more ready to learn after doing DPA. 

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Question 4: 

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With this data, we can clearly observe that the implementation of DPA results in a positive impact on mental and emotional wellbeing. 

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Question 5: 

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This question was asked before and after DPA. We were able to conclude that by incorporating DPA into our classrooms, the students from all classrooms have reported an increased level of feeling relaxed during the day. 

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Question 6: 

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From our research, there were no significant reported differences in feelings of happiness before and after DPA. However, we did find that students reported that physical activities generally resulted in improved feelings of happiness. 

 

Question 7: 

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We found consistency in the reports of student preference of DPA location. Students overall seemed to have an unswayed preference towards the location of DPA. 

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Question 8: 

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Given the numbers of outcomes, the students seem to prefer DPA during midday and afternoon. 

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Question 9: 

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Our research found that our students preferred higher intensity activities, such as Just Dance, Go Noodle and Tag. 

Observations 

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Throughout our time in our placement schools, we were able to clearly observe the visible benefits of incorporating DPA into our class routine. Our students overall expressed that they felt that the incorporation of DPA into their class routine benefited their ability to focus on tasks and instructions, and provided them with a better feeling of general well-being. 

In our classrooms, we found that the students with IEPs especially benefited from the incorporation of DPA into their class time. This sentiment was plainly expressed by the students through their responses to our surveys and was also clearly observed by the teachers. If our students became agitated or restless we took this as a sign to incorporate physical activity into our lessons. Doing so most often resulted in students becoming more engaged and focused on the activities that followed. 

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Through our observations and data collected from student responses, we found that incorporating DPA into our class routines overall resulted in students feeling more focused, energetic, ready to learn, and relaxed throughout the day. Furthermore, we found that this incorporation helped students to feel less anxious and led to an increased report of student feelings of happiness. We also found that students seemed to have a set preference for the location and time of day for DPA and that they preferred higher intensity activities. Overall, our results reflected previous research which indicates that students greatly benefit from the implementation of daily physical activities into their class routines. 

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Results 

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As physical activity advocates and teacher candidates, we will be in close connection with children and youth on a daily basis. We will, therefore, have an important impact on students. Accordingly, we feel that it is important to foster, nurture and promote enjoyment in physical activity in order to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Ultimately, our mission is to better help children and youth strive and embrace their full potential. We believe that our research project will help us to organize, structure and visualize the interrelationships between the key components in enhancing enjoyment for children when participating in physical activity. We believe that in doing so, we will help them to perform better at school and to be more self-regulated. 

 

In our field of work, enjoyment enhancement is extremely important. Research has shown that lack of enjoyment is the number one reason individuals, specifically, children, stop participating in physical activities and sports (Visik et al., 2015). Thus, it is crucial that, as teachers, we recognize the importance of selecting fun, engaging, and dynamic DPA activities. On the flip side, the main reason why people stay active is that it is enjoyable (Glyn, 2001). Therefore, the application of all of the previously explained concepts must be applied in order to maintain an active lifestyle on a long term basis. As teachers, we will have to continuously balance and intertwine the elements of physical activities, advocate their enjoyment in order to promote change and maintenance and maintain progress by incorporating enjoyment in physical activity. 

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References: 

Allison, K.R., Vu-Nguyen, K., Ng, B. et al. (2016). Evaluation of Daily Physical Activity (DPA) policy implementation in Ontario: surveys of elementary school administrators and teachers. BMC Public Health 

 

Ball, Geoff & McCargar, Linda (2003). Childhood Obesity in Canada: A Review of Prevalence Estimates and Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases and Type 2 Diabetes. Canadian Journal of applied physiology. 

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Bates, Heidi (2006). Daily Physical Activity for Children and Youth A Review and Synthesis of the Literature. The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED498257.pdf 

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Glyn, C. R. (2001). Advances in motivation in sport and exercise. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 357-415 

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Kimiecik, J. C., & Harris, A. T. (1996). What Is Enjoyment? A Conceptual/Definitional Analysis with Implications for Sport and Exercise Psychology. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 18(3), 247-263. 

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Statistics Canada (2013). Directly measured physical activity of children and youth, 2012 and 2013. Retrieved from: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-625-x/2015001/article/14136-eng.htm 

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Stone, MR, Faulkner, GEJ, Zeglen-Hunt, L. et al. (2012). The Daily Physical Activity (DPA) Policy in Ontario: Is It Working? An Examination Using Accelerometry-measured Physical Activity Data. Canadian Journal of Public Health 103, 170–174. 

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Taras, H. (2005). Physical Activity and Student Performance at School. Journal of School Health, 75: 214-218. 

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Visek, A. J., Achrati, S. M., Mannix, H., McDonnell, K., Harris, B. S., & DiPietro, L. (2015). The fun integration theory: toward sustaining children and adolescents sport participation. Journal of physical activity & health, 12(3), 424–433. 

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Weiss, M. R., & Amorose, A. J. (2008). Motivational orientations and sport behavior. Advances in sport psychology (pp. 115–155,437–444). Human Kinetics. 

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William H. D. (1998). Health Consequences of Obesity in Youth: Childhood Predictors of Adult Disease. Pediatrics, 101 (2), 518-25.