Education Commons^™

Curriculum Matters: Learning Science-Based Fitness Knowledge In Constructivist Physical Education, Haichun Sun, Ang Chen, Xihe Zhu, Catherine D. Ennis

Human Movement Sciences Faculty Publications

Teaching fitness-related knowledge has become critical in developing children's healthful living behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a science-based, constructivist physical education curriculum on learning fitness knowledge critical to healthful living in elementary school students. The schools ( N = 30) were randomly selected from one of the largest school districts in the United States and randomly assigned to treatment curriculum and control conditions. Students in third, fourth, and fifth grade ( N = 5,717) were pre- and posttested on a standardized knowledge test on exercise principles and benefits in cardiorespiratory health, muscular capacity, …

Positive Youth Development: A Resiliency Based Afterschool Program Case Study, Lindsey Brown, Eddie Hill, Amy Shellman, Edwin Gomez

Human Movement Sciences Faculty Publications

This study examined the impact of an afterschool program on resilience in youth at an elementary school in Central NY. The goals of the program were to: (a) increase resiliency among participants, and (b) reduce the occurrence of aggressive behaviors (i.e., bullying) in 5th and 6th graders. Of the 79 students who completed the survey, 19 participants were able to be matched with pre- and posttests. In the study, 13 as participants in the afterschool program, and six as non-participants. Results of paired samples t-tests indicated that those who participated in the afterschool program showed a significant increase (p= 0.05) …

Influence Of Personal And Lesson Factors On Caloric Expenditure In Physical Education, Ang Chen, Haichun Sun, Xihe Zhu, Catherine D. Ennis

Human Movement Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Increasing caloric expenditure in physical education is considered an effective school-based approach to addressing the child obesity epidemic. This study was designed to determine synergistic influences of student characteristics and lesson factors on caloric expenditure in elementary and middle school physical education.

Methods: The study used a multi-level design. Level-1 factors included personal characteristics: age, gender, and body mass index. Level-2 factors included lesson length, content, and school level. Based on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention age-gender adjusted growth chart, students in 87 classes from 14 elementary and 15 middle schools were pre-screened into "Overweight", "Healthy weight", …

Measuring The Educational Impact Of Promoting Environmental Awareness In Kids (Peak): The Development And Implementation Of A New Scale, Jennifer Miller, Lindsey Brown, Eddie Hill, Amy Shellman, Ron Ramsing, Edwin Gómez

Human Movement Sciences Faculty Publications

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics (LNT) is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches skills and values for recreating responsibly in the out-of-doors. LNT developed Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids (PEAK), based on seven ethical principles. The PEAK program provides a pack that contains several interactive activities specifically designed to educate children about the outdoors and the responsible use of shared public lands. While the PEAK program has been in existence for a number of years, the program’s effectiveness has not been empirically tested. Moreover, there is limited data regarding responsible environmental attitudes and behavior in elementary school-aged …