Effects of a Hybrid Program of Active Breaks and Responsibility on the Behaviour of Primary Students: A Mixed Methods Study

Effect of the hybridization of social and personal responsibility model and sport education model on physical fitness status and physical activity practice

Physical activity patterns, sedentary habits and obesity levels among children and teenagers are indicators of a worrying reality which has been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, this study has analysed the impact that new methodologies in Physical Education have on physical health aspects. Two teaching methods, namely, Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility and Sport Education Model, were hybridized, in a Secondary School in Murcia (Spain). Controlled quasi-experimental research was completed with a sample of 76 Secondary Education students aged 12-14 (male: 32; female: 44), developing a hybridization of both models in the experimental group. The Physician-based Assessment and Counselling for Exercise (PACE) questionnaire and Eurofit and Alpha Fitness motor tests were run to collect the results. Those showed significant improvement in standing long jump and speed-agility results in the control group. In the experimental group, on the contrary, no significant improvement was registered for either test, but out-of-school physical activity rates were higher. Following this research, it is concluded that both models have positive influence on physical activity habits, but the teaching time devoted to the subject of Physical Education is not enough to improve them.

Personal and Social Responsibility Model: Differences According to Educational Stage in Motivation, Basic Psychological Needs, Satisfaction, and Responsibility

The purpose of this study was to apply the Personal and Social Responsibility Model (TPSR) and verify its effects on responsibility and motivation according to educational stage. For this, teachers from Physical Education and other subjects were trained and a pre-test and a post-test were carried out. The intervention was carried out over five months. The total sample comprised 408 students after the inclusion criteria were applied to the initial sample of 430, including being 192 students from 5th and 6th grade of Elementary (M 10.16; SD = 0.77) and 222 from Secondary (M = 12.86; SD = 0.70), with a confidence level of 95% and 5% error margin. The total number of students in the experimental group was 216, with 192 in the control group. The results reflected improvements in the experimental group in terms of experience motivation, identified regulation, amotivation, autonomy, competence, social responsibility, SDI, and BPNs (p < 0.05 and d Cohen > 0.2). The control group did not present differences in any variable. Considering the differences according to stage, the Elementary school group obtained values of p < 0.05 and d > 0.02 in experience motivation, amotivation, autonomy, competence, personal and social responsibility, SDI, and BPNs, which was not found in the Secondary school group. It is concluded that the TPSR may be applicable in both Elementary and Secondary schools to improve the motivation and responsibility of students, with the most favorable results for Elementary education students.

Impact of an Interdisciplinary Educational Programme on Students' Physical Activity and Fitness

Educational initiatives and actions are needed to provide students with skills to create active habits and lifestyles in order to increase the physical activity and fitness levels of young people. The main objective of this study was to analyse the effects of a classroom-based physical activity and life skills programme on students' physical activity and fitness levels. The sample consisted of 65 students in the 6th grade of Primary Education, aged between 11 and 13 years (11.86 ± 0.53), divided into a control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG) for convenience and accessibility. This was a quasi-experimental, repeated measures, longitudinal cut-off research design. For 16 weeks, an interdisciplinary educational programme based on a combination of classroom-based physical activity and life skills was implemented. The results showed that the educational programme had a positive effect on students' physical activity levels during school hours, specifically on reducing sedentary time (p < 0.001) and increasing light (p < 0.001) and moderate-to-vigorous (p < 0.001) physical activity. Positive effects were also found on the variables of explosive strength (p < 0.05) and aerobic capacity (p < 0.05) related to physical fitness. In conclusion, interdisciplinary educational programmes based on the promotion of physical activity and life skills could contribute to the development of responsible daily physical activity habits in students to facilitate their transfer to other environments (social and family) outside school.

A Correlation Analysis between Undergraduate Students' Safety Behaviors in the Laboratory and Their Learning Efficiencies

Students' behaviors have a close relationship with their learning efficiencies, particularly about professional knowledge. Different types of behaviors should have different influences. Disclosing the special relationship between undergraduate students' conscious safety behaviors in their laboratory experiments with their learning efficiencies is important for fostering them into professional talents. In this study, a course entitled "Advanced Methods of Materials Characterization" was arranged to contain three sections: theoretical learning in the classroom, eight characterization experiments in the laboratory in sequence, and self-training to apply the knowledge. In the final examination, eighteen percent was allocated to the examination questions about safety issues. The students' scores for this section were associated with their total roll scores. Two quantitative relationships are disclosed. One is between the students' final examination score (y) and their subjective consciousness of safety behaviors (x) in their laboratory experiments, as y = 5.56 + 4.83 x (R = 0.9192). The other is between their grade point average (y) and safety behavior evaluation (x) as y = 0.51 + 0.15 x (R = 0.7296). Undergraduate students' behaviors in scientific laboratories need to be verified to have a close and positive relationship with their professional knowledge learning efficiencies. This offers a hint that improving students' safety behaviors and enhancing their subjective safety awareness are conducive to improving their learning efficiency for professional knowledge.

The Effects of the ACTIVE VALUES Program on Psychosocial Aspects and Executive Functions

The main objective of this study was to implement an educational program named ACTIVE VALUES and to analyse the psychosocial and cognitive effects of its application. It is a quasi-experimental repeated measures research with a non-randomised experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG). The sample consisted of 102 students in the 6th grade of primary school, aged between 11 and 13 years (M = 11.59; SD = 0.60), and 4 teachers aged between 27 and 52 years (M = 38.5). The intervention program lasted 4 months, in which the EG implemented a teaching methodology based on the incorporation of classroom-based physical activity (CB-PA) in the structure of the Teaching for Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model to develop personal and social values in students, as well as to reduce children's sedentary behaviour in the classroom in different educational areas (e.g., mathematics, Spanish language, social sciences and natural sciences), while the CG used a conventional methodology based on direct instruction. The main results found show significant improvements in intrinsic motivation variables (including intrinsic motivation for achievement, stimulating experiences and knowledge), self-determination index, autonomy, relatedness, psychological mediators index, personal and social responsibility, teacher climate, intention to be physically active and executive functions in the EG, while amotivation values increased in the CG. In conclusion, interdisciplinary educational programs based on the combination of pedagogical models and active methodologies are postulated as methodological alternatives to achieve an integral and multilateral development of children and adolescents, as well as to improve the different learning domains of physical education, such as cognitive, social and motor. It is recommended that future research should consider longitudinal designs with mixed methods and follow-up data to assess learning retention, as well as larger samples and the measurement of a greater number of executive functions (e.g., inhibitory control and attention).