Integrating Physical Activity and Science Learning ...

American Journal of Health Education, 46, 323–328, 2015 Copyright q SHAPE America ISSN 1932-5037 print/ISSN 2168-3751 online DOI: 10.1080/19325037.2015.1078266

Active Science: Integrating Physical Activity and Science Learning into the Afterschool Environment Kevin E. Finn, Zi Yan, and Kyle J. McInnis Merrimack College

Background: Afterschool programs offer significant opportunities to increase physical activity levels and improve academic performance of children. Purpose: This study assessed an innovative approach to embed physical activity into science lessons in an afterschool community setting. Methods: Participants were 47 boys and girls (age ¼ 10.8 ^ 0.7 years) enrolled in an afterschool program offered at a YMCA located in an economically disadvantaged urban community. The 6-week curriculum included a 30-minute, twice-a-week physical activity intervention. The Active Science (n ¼ 16) group participated in a series of age/grade appropriate science lessons that involved using their activity data (i.e., steps, distance, and calories) to explore and reinforce important science concepts. The control group (n ¼ 31) participated in the physical activity component only. Results: A 2(time) £ 2(group) repeated multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) test showed that the group was not significant, F (24, 1) ¼ 0. 51, P . .05. The time effects were significant on steps/hour, F (24,1) ¼ 43.07, distance/hour, F (24,1) ¼ 26.31; calories/hour, F (24,1) ¼ 23.50; and science scores, F (24, 1) ¼ 39.00, all Ps , .001. Discussion: The results of this study suggest an active education intervention showed promising effects on promoting physical activity and science learning. Translation to Health Education Practice: Afterschool programs should endorse innovative strategies to incorporate movement and activity into their curricula.

BACKGROUND We are experiencing an epidemic of childhood obesity, which is being fueled by pervasive levels of inadequate physical activity and sedentary lifestyle. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, collected from 1976 to 1980 and from 2009 to 2010, show that the prevalence of obesity in the United States has more than tripled for those aged 2 –19 years (5.0% to 17%).1 Obesity in youth has many negative health impacts. Excess body fat is associated with high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, stroke, several cancers, and some forms of arthritis.2,3 In addition, the importance of early adoption of physical activity by children has been well documented. Research has shown that participation in physical activity during childhood can predict whether children will be active or not during adulthood.4 Thus, early

Submitted February 27, 2015; accepted May 19, 2015. Correspondence should be addressed to Kevin E. Finn, Merrimack College, 315 Turnpike St., North Andover, MA 01845. E-mail: fi[email protected]

interventions are crucial to the prevention of physical inactivity and related chronic diseases later in life.5,6 Given this situation, both public and private sectors have been called upon to improve the levels of physical activity to increase caloric expenditure among children and adolescents. Reports from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,7 Institute of Medicine,8 National Physical Activity Plan,9 White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity,10 and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign11 have identified school and afterschool environments as ideal settings for increasing physical activity. Despite these recommendations, many children are not sufficiently active either at school or after school. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report in 2013,12 more than 8 million children and teens spend an average of 8 hours per week in afterschool programs. Recently, afterschool programs have been identified as possible settings in which physical inactivity and childhood obesity can be combated.13 According to the recommendations, afterschool programs should provide children with at least 30 minutes of organized physical activity for every 3 hours of program time.14 Unfortunately, afterschool programs have not been able to provide

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adequate physical activity opportunities for children. Beets and colleagues13 conducted a systematic review of statelevel afterschool programs to identify existing standards and policies; they concluded that policies promoting physical activity within these organizations were largely absent. In the small number of states that did have physical activity policies and standards, it was found that the children did not meet the physical activity levels outlined in the policies.13,15 Physical inactivity is a serious concern among all children. Additionally, many schools, especially ones in poorer communities, have reported unsatisfactory academic test scores in subjects such as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). States with the highest prevalence of child obesity also have the worst elementary school STEM scores in a national ranking.16 In addition, several large-scale studies have shown a significant negative correlation between body mass index and academic performance in children.17-19 Evidence from multiple studies and research reviews suggests that physical activity improves many academic outcomes, including overall academic success, cognitive performance, and reading and math skills, and also facilitates positive behaviors such as increased time on-task in the classroom and improved levels of concentration.20-24 Recent publications supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and by the Institute of Medicine have conclusively demonstrated that physical activity is essential for promoting academic achievement.8,12 In fact, the integration of physical activity into academic lessons has been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a strategy to promote regular physical activity and support academic success.20 Therefore, afterschool organizations should aim to integrate physical activity and academic components into their programs to promote both the physical and educational well-being of the child. To our knowledge, there are few programs widely deployed within afterschool settings that integrate activity and educational experiences. Thus, national recommendations on active education as a means to improve physical activity and support academic success do not appear to be widely implemented. The Active Science program was created to promote physical activity as well as to support science education among afterschool children. The Active Science Approach The Active Science program was founded in 2009 through support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with additional support from various charitable foundations and private sources. Active Science is a federally registered trademarked and nonprofit service that is available for community organizations and afterschool programs to help support physical activity and academic achievement in school-age children. Active Science integrates physical activity and educational experiences.

This approach of using physical activity as a component of academics is not unique to Active Science, and others have successfully demonstrated beneficial effects on activity and academics. At this time, the program is delivered to schools through the YMCA network that in turn collaborates with schools and teachers. There is no fee for individual teachers to be involved in the program. The present study was specific to the approach used by Active Science as described herein. The website where more information can be found is www. activescienceforkids.org. The main objective is to improve physical activity while supporting educational achievement in afterschool and childcare settings and directly during school time. Active Science encompasses physical activity within exploratorytype educational experiences to create “active education” or “exerlearning” environments. The Active Science approach incorporates the use of interactive technologies. Considering children’s affinity toward online experiences, digital products, and social media, these technologies add an exciting aspect to this program. In the an afterschool Active Science program setting, children generate, collect, and analyze their own physical activity data using digital monitors (i.e., pedometers) that allow users to upload personal metrics (i.e., steps, distance, and calories) to an interactive website for evaluating and tracking progress. In essence, children play, explore, and discover while staying active. In an initial in-school pilot study, the results showed the Active Science program improved physical activity levels by 50% and increased science skills and knowledge by 30% among middle school students.25,26 PURPOSE The purpose of the current study was to assess the Active Science program among afterschool children in an economically disadvantaged urban community. To test the physical activity and science outcomes separately, participants were randomly assigned to either the Active Science group or the control group. The Active Science group participated in 30 minutes of physical activity followed by science lessons that involved using their personal activity data (e.g., steps, distance, and calories) to explore and reinforce important science concepts. The control group participated in 30 minutes of physical activity only (i.e., implemented only the physical activity component of the Active Science curriculum). The hypotheses are as follows: (1) a 6-week Active Science program will promote physical activity in both the Active Science and control groups compared to traditional afterschool programs; (2) the Active Science group will show greater improvement in science test scores compared to the control group.

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METHODS Participants and Setting Participants were 47 boys and girls (age ¼ 10.8 ^ 0.7 years) enrolled in an afterschool program offered at a YMCA located in an economically disadvantaged urban community in Massachusetts. Ninety-five percent of the participants were Hispanic, 3% were African American, and 2% were Caucasian. The participants were recruited from the YMCA based on their age due to the level of academic content in the curriculum. Written parental/guardian consent and child assent forms were completed prior to study participation. Approval for the study was obtained from the college’s Institutional Review Board. The participants were randomly assigned to one of 2 groups, Active Science (n ¼ 16) and the control (n ¼ 31). The Active Science group had fewer participants because of the limited availability of computers necessary for the academic component of the program. Intervention During this study, children in both the Active Science and the control groups participated in various physical activities for 30 minutes, twice per week, for 6 weeks (12 lessons) at the YMCA. The YMCA staff led the participants through the physical activity curriculum in the gymnasium. The physical activities incorporated into the curriculum included a variety of team-based games, traditional sports, and fitness stations. The goal of the physical activity curriculum was to engage participants with different levels of fitness and skills in fun, moderately intense, activities. Each participant in both groups (control and intervention) wore a Digiwalker SW-701 (Yamax Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) pedometer to track their physical activity data during each 30-minute session. After the physical activity session was completed, the Active Science intervention group learned how to retrieve the data from the pedometer and record their steps, distance, and calories in a personal data journal. Once the data were recorded, the participants logged onto the Active Science website to enter the data. They viewed a series of figures and tables generated from the data that displayed the class and individual information (i.e., steps, distance, and calories) for each lesson over time. The participants then completed an analysis of the data by answering a variety of questions that focused on general scientific inquiry skills, such as graphical interpretation and the ability to draw conclusions from data. The children participated in the science inquiry portion of the each lesson for about 20 minutes, twice per week, for 6 weeks (12 lessons). In a sample lesson, participants were asked to create a hypothesis about how many steps they would take during that day’s physical activity. At the end of the lesson, they compared what they hypothesized to what they actually did.

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They then analyzed these data, which were represented in a graphical display. The follow-up questions asked the participants to come up with a conclusion based on the data. For this lesson, the follow-up questions asked the participants what the difference in steps was between what they hypothesized and what they actually did. They then had to provide an explanation of how they would increase the number of steps during the next time they completed 30 minutes of physical activity. The control group participated in the physical activity component of the program but did not engage in the science lessons. They returned to the traditional afterschool program once they had completed the physical activities for the day. The trained YMCA staff then recorded the steps, distance, and calories from their pedometers. Baseline Prior to implementation of the intervention, baseline physical activity data were collected on the participants during 5 consecutive days in the afterschool setting. The purpose of the baseline testing was to assess the participants’ activity levels during their “traditional” afterschool program. At this particular YMCA, the traditional afterschool program entailed a variety of activities including art, drama, homework, and physical activity. The trained YMCA staff placed the pedometers on the participants for 2 hours per day during the baseline period. At the end of each day, the staff members removed the pedometers and recorded the step count, distance traveled, and calories expended. Measures Physical activity During the baseline and intervention, each participant in both the Active Science and the control groups wore a pedometer to measure distance traveled, calories expended, and step count. The trained YMCA staff placed the pedometers on the participants before each lesson to assure that the devices were located in the appropriate position. Following the 30 minutes of physical activity, the staff removed and recorded the data from the pedometers. Science learning assessment To assess science-learning outcomes, a 20-item science test was developed and administered at the beginning and end of the program. The content of the test assessed the skills that were taught in the Active Science curriculum with a focus on the ability to read and interpret data from figures and tables and to understand and implement the scientific method (e.g., make a hypothesis, record and collect data, draw conclusions). Two middle school science teachers reviewed

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K. E. FINN ET AL. TABLE 1 Descriptive Results on Physical Activity and Science Achievement

Control (n ¼ 31) Active Science (n ¼ 16)

Baseline Intervention Baseline Intervention

Steps/hour

Distance (miles)/hour

Calories (kcal)/hour

Science Scores

1977 (955) 4072 (1500) 1599 (719) 3563 (1322)

0.77 (0.37) 1.55 (0.74) 0.67 (0.38) 1.18 (0.51)

52.40 (37.44) 105.81 (57.69) 46.75 (28.66) 94.41 (61.06)

46.88 (17.68) 58.97 (13.26) 44.75 (13.58) 62.65 (19.05)

the science test and provided feedback in order to assure that the content was age and grade appropriate. Data Analysis A 2 (time) £ 2 (group) repeated multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) test was used to examine the intervention effect on physical activity and science measures. Cohen’s d was computed as a measure of effect size. SPSS 21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) was used to perform the analysis. RESULTS Table 1 shows the descriptive results of physical activity and science measures from baseline to the posttest. From the table, all physical activity measures, steps/hour, distance/ hour, and calories/hour, as well as science scores, increased from baseline to the posttest in both the Active Science and control groups. For the control group, the steps/hour increased from M ¼ 1977 (SD ¼ 955) to M ¼ 4072 (SD ¼ 1500), Cohen’s d ¼ 1.67; the distance/hour increased from M ¼ 0.77 (SD ¼ 0.37) to M ¼ 1.55 (SD ¼ 0.74), Cohen’s d ¼ 1.33; and the calories/hour increased from M ¼ 52.40 (SD ¼ 28.66) to M ¼ 105.81 (SD ¼ 61.06), Cohen’s d ¼ 1.12. For the Active Science group, the steps/hour increased from M ¼ 1599 (SD ¼ 719) to M ¼ 3563 (SD ¼ 1322), Cohen’s d ¼ 1.85; the distance (miles)/hour increased from M ¼ 0.67 (SD ¼ 0.38) to M ¼ 1.18 (SD ¼ 0.51), Cohen’s d ¼ 1.13; and the calories (kcal)/hour increased from M ¼ 46.75 (SD ¼ 28.66) to M ¼ 94.41 (SD ¼ 61.06), Cohen’s d ¼ 1.00. For the control group, the pre and post science scores increased from M ¼ 46.88 (SD ¼ 17.68) to M ¼ 58.97 (SD ¼ 13.26), Cohen’s d ¼ 0.52; For the Active Science group, the pre and post science scores increased from M ¼ 44.75 (SD ¼ 13.58) to M ¼ 62.65 (SD ¼ 19.05), Cohen’s d ¼ 1.09. A 2 (time) £ 2 (group) repeated MANOVA test showed that interaction effect between time and group was not significant, F(24, 1) ¼ 1.26, P . .05. The post hoc test showed that time effects were significant on steps/hour, F

(24, 1) ¼ 43.07, distance/hour, F (24,1) ¼ 26.31, calories/ hour, F (24, 1) ¼ 23.50, and science score, F (24, 1) ¼ 39.00, with all P values , .001. The group effect was not significant, F (24, 1) ¼ 0.51, P . .05. In addition, none of the participants in the Active Science or control groups achieved the physical activity recommendation (i.e., 5100 steps/hour) at baseline, whereas 27.3% of participants in the Active Science group and 38.5% of the participants in the control group achieved the recommendation. DISCUSSION The purpose of this study was to assess the Active Science program, which aims to enhance physical activity and support educational achievement among children in the afterschool environment. Specifically, the study examined and compared the effects of the Active Science and control groups on physical activity participation and science performance among boys and girls in an afterschool setting. The results revealed that in 6 weeks, participants in both the Active Science and control groups significantly increased physical activity participation and science scores. However, the group difference was not significant. Physical Activity One of the main goals of the Active Science program is to develop a framework for increasing the amount of physical activity in the afterschool environment. The current study provides evidence that the Active Science curriculum significantly promotes physical activity among children from a low-income community, compared to the traditional afterschool programs. According to the National Afterschool Association,27 afterschool programs should strive for at least 30 minutes of physical activity (or 2550 steps) to contribute toward the overall goal of 60 minutes (or 5100 steps) of activity per day. In the current study, none of the participants in the Active Science or the control groups achieved 5100 steps/hour during the baseline testing in the traditional afterschool environment. However, during the intervention, 27.3% of participants in the Active Science group and 38.5% of the participants in the control group achieved the recommendation. The results are consistent with previous studies revealing that traditional afterschool

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programs do not meet national recommendations for accumulating enough physical activity for children.13,14 It also shows that innovative programs, such as Active Science, can facilitate the achievement of the physical activity recommendations in the afterschool setting. The increases in physical activity may be attributed to the fact that the participants were tracking their own data using activity monitors and therefore were motivated to be more active. Previous research has demonstrated that wearing physical activity monitors such as pedometers and accelerometers can help to motivate participants to perform more physical activity.27 The results suggest that afterschool programs could adopt similar strategies, such as providing pedometers to motivate students to be more active. We should also be aware that the improvement in physical activity could also have been attributed to the reinforcement from staff members who delivered the program. In the current study, the staff members were trained to deliver the program as well as to encourage children’s participation by implementing various behavioral strategies such as providing continual encouragement and feedback. A recent study found that children were most active in afterschool programs when the staff was actively promoting physical activity and that activity levels increased with each physical activity promotion strategy that was implemented (i.e., staff verbally promoted physical activity, staff organized physical activity).28 Science Performance Both the Active Science and the control groups significantly increased their science scores, although the group differences were not statistically significant. This may have been the result of a small sample size as well as the learning effect of the participants. One limitation in the current study is that data (N ¼ 16) are missing from the posttest due to various reasons (e.g., missing participation on the day of the posttest). The reduced sample size made it more difficult to catch the group differences if any existed. Regardless, the Active Science group showed the trend of stronger improvement in science knowledge compared to the control group, which indicated the potential interventional effect of the Active Science program. Our findings are consistent with an accumulating and impressive body of scientific evidence demonstrating that the integration of movement with learning helps to promote physical activity and supports STEM learning in school-age children.18,30 In the Active Science program, children worked on various science concepts immediately following their physical activity participation. The use of computers helped the children to visualize the science concepts (i.e., graphs and tables) and provided an interactive way for children to learn the science content. Previous studies have shown that technology helps children to learn more

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efficiently and effectively.29 In addition, children also show more interest in science learning when they collect and analyze their own data.30 It has been reported that, in science learning, students are rarely asked to determine their own questions to study and they are not expected to be curious.30,31 In this study, the children analyzed their own data and made conclusions based on what they did during the physical activity component of the program. This approach created a sense of personal attachment to the data for the children. This could have been a reason why they were interested in the science learning. Lastly, studies have shown that physical activity may improve learning and increase on-task behavior in children.32,33 Overall, Active Science provided a positive learning experience for children, which may have developed their interest in science learning. In conclusion, to our knowledge, this is the first study that integrated physical activity with science learning in the afterschool setting. The results of the study provided preliminary evidence that science learning in school-age children could be achieved through physical activity involving fun and enjoyable activities. Future studies should enroll more participants and provide more flexible schedules to allow more participants to take the assessments. In addition, future qualitative evaluation should be collected on the program from children who participated in the study as well as staff who delivered the program. TRANSLATION TO HEALTH EDUCATION PRACTICE Childhood obesity, as well as poor science performance, are 2 rising concerns for our children in America. Because many children are enrolled afterschool programs, it provides us with great opportunities to address these issues Unfortunately, traditional afterschool programs have not been effective at providing adequate physical activity opportunities for children. The novel program utilized in this study provided compelling preliminary evidence that physical activity and science learning can be integrated and delivered among children in the afterschool setting. The concept implemented in the current project allows children to collect their own physical activity data and to use these data to learn science concepts. Using a similar approach, this model could extend to other related disciplines. For example, afterschool programs could develop curricula that integrate physical activity with other STEM subjects, as well as foreign language, arts, etc. Because the activity monitor provides instant feedback on physical activity levels to the participant, it is also important to help children set up their physical activity goals and encourage them to achieve these goals. To promote participation, it is also an option to have participants compete with each other as a method of increasing physical

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activity. Finally, to make these programs more sustainable and also attractive to children and parents, program developers should continue to collect quantitative and qualitative evidence of feasibility and effectiveness to continually improve the programs. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors thank the children and staff at the Merrimack Valley YMCA for their willingness to participate in this study.

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