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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2019 Apr 4;19(1):379.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-6635-2.

Integrating physical activity into the primary school curriculum: rationale and study protocol for the "Thinking while Moving in English" cluster randomized controlled trial

Myrto F Mavilidi  1 , David R Lubans  2 , Philip J Morgan  2 , Andrew Miller  3 , Narelle Eather  2 , Frini Karayanidis  4 , Chris Lonsdale  5 , Michael Noetel  5 , Kylie Shaw  3 , Nicholas Riley  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Integrating physical activity into the primary school curriculum: rationale and study protocol for the "Thinking while Moving in English" cluster randomized controlled trial

Myrto F Mavilidi et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The current and declining physical activity levels of children is a global concern. Integrating physical activity into the school curriculum may be an effective way not only to improve children's physical activity levels but also enhance educational outcomes. Given the recent national focus in Australia on improving the literacy levels of children in primary school, and an increasing proportion of time spent on explicitly teaching these skills, integrating physical activity into English could be a viable strategy to improve literacy levels and physical activity at the same time. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the 'Thinking While Moving in English' (TWM-E) program on children's physical activity, on-task behavior in the classroom, academic achievement, and executive function.

Methods: Grade 3-4 children from 10 public schools in New South Wales, Australia will be randomly allocated to intervention (n = 5) or control (n = 5) groups. All teachers will receive 1-day workshop of registered professional learning and a TWM-E equipment pack (e.g., chalk, lettered bean bags). Intervention schools will be asked to adapt their English lessons to embed movement-based learning in their daily program for three 40-min lessons per week, over a six-week period. The primary outcome is children's physical activity levels across the school day (measured using accelerometry). Secondary outcomes are children's on-task behavior during English lessons, academic achievement in English, and executive function. A detailed process evaluation will be undertaken including questionnaires, fidelity checks, and teacher and student interviews.

Discussion: The TWM-E program has the potential to improve primary school children's physical activity levels, along with academic outcomes (on-task behavior, cognition, and academic achievement), and provide stakeholders with exemplar lessons and guidelines which illustrate how to teach English to children whilst they are moving.

Trial registration: Australian and New Zealand Clinical trial Register ACTRN12618001009202 Date registered: 15/06/2018 retrospectively registered.

Keywords: Cognitive function; English; On-task behavior; Physical activity; Primary schools; Randomized controlled trial.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Research has been performed in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki and has been approved by University of Newcastle, Australia Human Research Ethics Committee (No: H-2017-0240) (https://nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/national-statement-ethical-conduct-human-research-2007-updated-2018#block-views-block-file-attachments-content-block-1), and the New South Wales Department of Education (SERAP No: 2017368).

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow of participants
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Example of activities and lesson plans
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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