Active Gaming vs Traditional Physical Education

Research Proposal Active Gaming vs Traditional Physical Education

Final Assignment #2 ETEC 5 !ection "5 #

April 11$2 11 #r% Cli&&ord Fal' (ichael !ingh #5)*2 )")

Active Gaming vs Traditional Physical Education

Introduction + am interested in researching i& active gaming is a more or less e&&ective method o& instruction in the upper intermediate level o& elementary physical education than traditional methods o& instruction% Active games are technology driven activities that re,uire participants to engage in physical movement in order to play games -.ansen and !anders$ 2 *$p%//0% As a physical education teacher$ + have al1ays &ound it a challenge to

motivate all o& the students in class% The students that are the most challenging to motivate are those students 1ho are less athletically inclined and have interests and ho22ies that are not sports related% +t is &or these students that + &eel active gaming can 2e the most use&ul% Childhood o2esity is a ma3or pro2lem that needs to 2e addressed% 4ne o& the ma3or reasons 2ehind this increase in o2esity in youth is the lac' o& &ree5time physical activity and concurrent increases in 6screen time7 $ including television$ computer use$ and video game activity% -Russell and 8e1ton 2 *$ p%2)50 Physical

education classes &or some students$ is the only &orm o& e9ercise that they receive in the course o& a 1ee'% + thin' this is precisely 1hy active gaming also 'no1n as e9ergaming can 2e a po1er&ul tool to help these at ris' groups develop a more active li&estyle% Active gaming com2ines the entertainment o& video games 1ith the physical aspect o& e9ercise% :y implementing active gaming in physical education$ 1e hope to motivate these students to en3oy e9ercising in class and also continue to en3oy it outside o& the classroom% Statement of Problem or Question The ,uestion that needs to 2e loo'ed at is 6Can active gaming 2e an e&&ective method o& instruction in a physical education class;7 <hen loo'ing at e&&ectiveness$ 1e 1ill 2e measuring several aspects% First and &oremost$ 1e are going to measure physical intensity o& active gaming$ to see 1hat i& any physical 2ene&its are present% !econdly$ through structured ,uestionnaires$ 1e 1ill 2e loo'ing at student &eed2ac' on the e&&ectiveness and acceptance o& active gaming in a physical education class% =astly$ the teacher 1ill ta'e o2servational notes during each stage o& the study concentrating on student>s participation levels% Literature Review Although active gaming is a &airly ne1 phenomenon$ there are ,uite a &e1 studies done regarding its use in education% .ansen and !anders -2 1 0 loo'ed at &i&th graders 1ho received instruction in physical education

Active Gaming vs Traditional Physical Education

t1ice a 1ee'% .ansen &ound that a ma3or theme 1as the students> 6persistence to game7% !he de&ines this 6as a natural characteristic o& children to voluntarily engage and remain engaged in technology driven physical activities7-.ansen and !anders 2 1 $p%/50 This led to the conclusion that video games 1ere a critical motivating &actor necessary &or all students to 2ecome engaged and en3oy physical education% This &actor pea'ed my interest and made me 1ant to conduct a study to help learn ho1 to motivate all o& my students% 8o1 that active gaming 1as sho1n to motivate students $ + 1anted to &ind out 1hat i& any$ physical 2ene&its it could produce% A study 2y .addoc'$ !iegel$ and <il'in -2 1 0 loo'ed at the energy e9penditure o& middle school students playing <ii !ports games% Participants in the study too' part in a 2 minute gaming session in 1hich they could select a game o& their choice and could s1itch games as &re,uently as they desired% .eart rate$ o9ygen and car2on dio9ide consumption 1as measured 2e&ore$ during and a&ter the study% Researchers &ound that during t1enty minutes o& activity$ children>s EE 1as considered moderate at 2est% <hile it 1as encouraging to &ind out that the children 1ere e9pending energy$ t1enty minutes did not seem li'e enough time to accurately 3udge activity especially 1hen participants had the a2ility to change games &re,uently% As a result in my study$ + decided to have students participate in the activity &or a longer duration$ a ?5 minute class to get a 2etter idea o& physical e9ertion% Another study 1hich loo'ed at energy e9penditure 1as done 2y (addison$ 8i (hurchu$ @ull$ @iang$ Prapavessis and Rodgers -2 A0% They loo'ed at 21 children 2et1een the ages o& 1 51? and measured energy

e9penditure -' cal0 derived &rom o9ygen consumption -B420 $ physical activity 1hich 1as measured 2y an accelerometer and heart rate monitor 1hile children 1ere playing active video games over short periods o& time% The results o& the study sho1ed that active games resulted in moderate to high energy e9penditure compara2le to 2ris' 1al'ing$ s'ipping and 3ogging% They also &ound that some games elicited a light intensity physical activity 1hile others 1ere more moderate% :y 'no1ing this$ care&ul thought 1as put into 1hat games 1ere chosen &or my study% 4ne criticism o& this study is that it ta'es place in a la2oratory and participants had to 1ear a great deal o& e,uipment in order to get all o& the desired measures% The children 1ore the accelerometer a2ove their right hip$ and a &ace mas' that covered the participantCs nose and mouth to help record 4 2 and C42 use% <hile + 1as

Active Gaming vs Traditional Physical Education

hoping to also have some in depth measures o& intensity$ + did not 1ant to ma'e the participants &eel uncom&orta2le 2y 1earing e,uipment that 1as too o2trusive% + also 1anted to ma'e sure that my study too' place in a school setting as opposed to the la2oratory% Russell and 8e1ton -2 *0 loo'ed at active gaming and its e&&ect on mood% This study concluded that

regardless o& the condition$ e9ercise o& any 'ind produces su2stantial mood 2ene&its% (y concern in this study 1as 2oth e9ercise only and interactive video game conditions the movement 1as cycling 2ased% This could have had e&&ected the participants mood depending on individual pre&erences to1ards cycling% This also helped in designing my plan% + decided to use t1o di&&erent sports in 2oth the active gaming and traditional physical education classes to ensure that a variety o& movements 1ere used% The &inal study that + loo'ed at really helped shape my proposal$ it 1as done 2y Fogel$ (ilten2erger $Graves and Doehler>s -2 )0% They &ocused on the e&&ects o& e9ergaming on inactive students% The study 1as

conducted during a 5th grade PE class and all students in the class participated in 2oth conditions o& the test$ 2ut only the data &rom &our inactive students 1as recorded% +n one condition the teacher conducted class in the usual manner% The other condition consisted o& a station rotation o& various e9ergames% The initial class 1as teacher led% Each su2se,uent class$ students &ollo1ed the rotation schedule and read simple instructions that 1ere posted at each station% Results sho1ed that during the e9ergaming condition students sho1ed higher levels o& physical activity and 1ere active &or longer periods o& time % +n addition$ there 1as less time used &or instruction$ transitions and classroom management during the e9ergaming condition$ 1hich le&t more activity time during class% 4ne limitation o& this study 1as the novelty e&&ect% !tudents engaged in more physical activity in the e9ergaming condition 2ecause the activities 1ere ne1% -Fogel et al%$2 )%p%5))0 + hope to conduct a longer

study 1here the ne1ness o& active gaming 1ill only 2e present &or the initial phase o& the condition% Methodology Participants Participants 1ill consist o& 2 classes o& grade seven students &rom the same elementary school in Bancouver% Each class 1ill consist o& roughly / students% 4ne class 1ill 2e my o1n$ and the other class 1ill 2e a colleague>s class 1ho platoons 1ith me &or physical education%

Active Gaming vs Traditional Physical Education

Materials The traditional gym class 1ill 2e doing units in 2as'et2all and 2adminton% They 1ill need a class set o& 2as'et2alls$ a &ull court 1ith hoops$ a class set o& 2adminton rac'ets and 2irdies$ and a gym 1ith a court and 2adminton nets% The e9ergaming conditions 1ill 2e set up in the daycare 1hich is ad3acent to the school$ 1hich 1ill have &ive Play!tation (ove systems each 1ith t1o controllers$ set up to represent di&&erent sports$ in this case soccer &or hal& o& the term and tennis &or the other hal&% Procedure !tage one o& this study 1ill commence at the 2eginning o& the school year in !eptem2er o& 2 11% 4ne class 1ill 2e randomly assigned to 2e the e9perimental conditions -e9ergaming0 and the other class 1ill 2e assigned the control condition -traditional physical education0% The classes 1ill stay in these conditions &or the duration o& the term$ !eptem2er 2 11 to #ecem2er 2 11 and 1ill have t1o ?5 minute classes each 1ee'% The control condition 1ill learn through traditional teacher lead physical education class% +nstructions 1ill 2e given$ s'ills 1ill 2e modeled$ students 1ill practice and the teacher 1ill give &eed2ac'% 4nce enough s'ills have 2een learned the students 1ill eventually play a game o& 2as'et2all% For !eptem2er and 4cto2er the students 1ill learn 2as'et2all $ &or the &ollo1ing t1o months the students 1ill learn 2adminton &ollo1ing the same instructional &ormat% +n the e9perimental condition$ students 1ill 2e paired up and 1ill 2e 2ro'en up into groups o& " and 1ill 2e assigned to one o& &ive gaming stations% Each station 1ill have the same set5up and same game provided% The &irst class 1ill 2e teacher led$ and the &ollo1ing classes students 1ill &ollo1 2asic instructions that are posted at each station% The teacher 1ill act as a &acilitator and o2server% The games that 1ill 2e &eatured 1ill 2e soccer &or !eptem2er and 4cto2er$ and tennis &or 8ovem2er and #ecem2er% They 1ill &ollo1 a similar &ormat as those in the control setting as they 1ill go through the practice stages o& the level &irst$ learning the s'ills necessary to eventually play in an actual game% !tage t1o o& this study 1ill ta'e place during the second term o& school &rom @anuary 2 12 through to the end o& (arch 2 12$ 2oth groups 1ill participate in a dance unit 1hich 1ill serve as a 1ashout period$ to avoid having one stage a&&ect the other% 4nce the third term commences April 2 12 to @une 2 12$ stage three

Active Gaming vs Traditional Physical Education

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1ill 2egin% +n this stage the t1o classes 1ill s1itch conditions &rom term one$ the e9perimental group 1ill 2ecome the control and receive traditional instruction and the control group 1ill no1 2ecome the e9perimental and participate in active gaming% Data Collection and nalysis Fitness testing 1ill 2e done 2y 2oth classes at the 2eginning and end o& each term% A push5up test 1ill determine arm strength$ a timed endurance run 1ill test cardiovascular health and a &le9i2ility test 1ill 2e done 2y each student and data 1ill 2e recorded% The purpose o& this testing 1ill 2e to determine any long term 2ene&its o& either control $e9perimental and neutral conditions% Each student 1ill 1ear heart rate monitors under their shirts and accelerometers on their arms during stage one and three o& the study% This 1ill help measure intensity o& the activity per&ormed 1hich is paramount to determining ,uality o& e9ercise% Euestionnaires 1ill 2e &illed out 2y students at the end o& each term to get &eed2ac' on pre&erences o& activities and perceived e9ertion and 1ill &ollo1 a =i'ert scale &ormat% + 1ill &ill out an o2servational 3ournal &ocusing on student participation levels during each stage and activity% Significance This research study is an area o& great interest to any teacher hoping to motivate students to 2ecome more physically active% Technology is a tool that is 2eing utiliFed in the classroom each and everyday to help motivate and provide dynamic learning e9periences &or students% Active gaming is a &airly ne1 technology 1hich is not yet in 1idespread use in schools% :y conducting research such as this + hope to determine i& it is a via2le alternative to traditional physical education% Active gaming is no1 2ringing technology into the gym and helping motivate all students to 2ecome more active% The popularity o& video games among our youth is undenia2le% :y com2ining something that children en3oy already 1ith physical activity $ 1e can hope to 2ridge the gap 2et1een active and inactive students% Through this research study $ + hope to help &ello1 educators enhance their teaching practices 2y not only motivating students to e9ercise 2ut to help promote an en3oya2le active li&estyle &or all students%

Active Gaming vs Traditional Physical Education

References Fogel$ B%$ (ilten2erger R%$ Graves R% and Doehler !% -2 )0 The e&&ects o& e9ergaming on physical activity

among inactive children in a physical education classroom% Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis% 2 1 $ ?/$ 5)15" %

.addoc'$ :% !iegel$ !% $ <il'in$ =% -2 1 0 Energy e9penditure o& middle school children 1hile playing 1ii sports games% Californian Journal of Health Promotion 2 1 $ *-10$ /25/)% .anson$ =% and !anders$ !% -2 1 0% Fi&th grade students> e9periences participating in active gaming in physical educationG the persistence to game% ICHPER-SD Journal of Research$ 5-20$ //5? % Retrieved &rom Eric #ata2ase% (addison$ R%$ 8i (hurchu$ C%$ @ull A%$ @iang H%$ Prapavessis .%$ Rodgers A% -2 A0% Energy e9pended playing

video console gamesG an opportunity to increase children>s physical activity; Pediatric E ercise Science$ 2 A$ 1)$ //?5/?/% )0 E9ploring the potential o& computer and video games &or health and physical )$ 5/$ " /5"22%

Papastergiou$ (% -2

educationGA literature revie1% Computers and Education 2 Russell$ <% and 8e1ton (% -2

*0% !hort5term psychological e&&ects o& interactive video games technology

e9ercise on mood and attention% Educational !echnolo"y # Society$ 11-20$ 2)?5/ *%