Meijers, V. (Vivian) (2021) Children’s On-Task Behaviour during the Implementation of Physically Active Learning in Special Needs Education: a Pilot Study. thesis, Human Movement Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Background: Physically active learning (PAL) can be an inventive way to increase physical activity (PA), stimulate cognitive functions and improve the academic performance of children in special needs education (SNE). To successfully implement PAL in SNE, an important implementation-factor is ‘dose received’, which expresses the extent of engagement of participants with an intervention. Children’s on-task behaviour (i.e., attention on the task) is a reflection of their dose received. Therefore, the aims of the present study were 1) to investigate the implementation of a PAL program (‘Fit & Vaardig op school’) in SNE in terms of children’s on-task behaviour, 2) to examine if characteristics of the PAL lessons and the children affected on-task behaviour, and 3) to examine if children’s intensity of PA during PAL was related to on-task behaviour. Methods: On-task behaviour related to the lesson content and related to the movements was observed in two classes (n=13; mean age 8.22 ± 0.34 years) from one SNE school during two types of PAL lessons (i.e., math and language). Children’s PA during the lessons was measured with accelerometers. Results: On average, children’s on-task behaviour related to the lesson content was 84% and related to the movements was 72%. The language lesson, the lesson content ‘language comprehension’ and the presence of behavioural problems resulted in lower on-task behaviour related to the movements, but not related to the lesson content. The lesson content of math, gender, class and the presence of a large learning disorder did not affect on-task behaviour. There were strong positive correlations between time spent being sedentary and on-task related to the lesson content, and between time spent in moderate to vigorous PA and on-task related to the movements. Conclusions: PAL can be successfully implemented in SNE in terms of dose received. However, the type and content of lessons, and the presence of children with behavioural problems should be taken into account when designing and implementing PAL in SNE.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Hartman, dr. E. and Smith, dr. J. |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 13 May 2022 14:09 |
| Last Modified: | 13 May 2022 14:09 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3309 |
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