Impact of Physical Education on Student Performance - Research Paper Example

? There have been a lot of studies confirming the connection between physical education and performance. These studies establish both the direct link between physical education and academic performance and also connect it with other indexes including school physical activity and school sports. It is important to establish this indirect connection as these elements are complimentary to the health of the student which is in turn is a determinant of the performance of the student. This literature review complies studies conducted on the impact of physical education on various aspects of student performance. Physical education and academic performance The direct implications of physical education on academic performance of students have been established by several researchers. One of the first studies analyzing the impact of physical activity on the academic performance of students was done by (Fourestier, 1962). This study included a small group of students from France. The sample population which underwent physical education in the afternoon after the forenoon’s sessions within the classroom was reported to have improved academic performance in comparison with the control group which didn’t undergo physical education (Fourestier, 1962). Though this study included only a small sample size and the methodology has not been detailed in the literature available, this has been indicated as one of the first studies in this research area. Another larger study which was conducted in 1970s has been recorded by Sallis et al (1999). This included 546 primary school children and confirmed that those students who continuously engaged in five hours of physical education in a week performed better academically. This study has also analyzed the changing impacts of extent of physical education as the control population was constituted of children who had a limited exposure of 40 minutes of physical education per week Sallis et al (1999). The finding of this study is interesting as the extended physical education sessions limited the sample population’s exposure to normal academic classes by 14%. It was concluded that despite the reduced exposure to direct academic content, the students who had extra sessions of physical education performed better academically. Shephard (1997) reported that there was significant improvement in the mathematics score of students who underwent physical education for 5 hours a week. However, there were negative consequences in terms of scores in English. It is worth noting here that 33 minutes were reduced in the mathematics instruction while no hours were taken off from English teaching Shephard (1997). Raviv & Hectch (1999) recorded that physical movement education considerably improved the reading skills and the arithmetic test scores of students in an intervention made in an Israel school involving 92 preschool and 266 first grade children. More recent studies also suggest promising correlation between academic performance and physical education. Coe, Pivarnik, Womack, Reeves & Malina (2006) conducted an interventional study amongst 6th grade students which included fifty five minutes of physical education per day as an intervention. This intervention in terms of time was equivalent to that of the time slot for arts and computer sciences. The observations of this study indicated that these students performed as good as the control population in mathematics, science and English Coe, Pivarnik, Womack, Reeves & Malina (2006). The results of the Canadian Achievement Test revealed that even with decrease in academic time the academic performance of the sample population remained the same (Ahamed, Macdonald, Reed, Naylor, Liu-Ambrose & McKay, 2007). There are few studies which have suggested negative implications of Physical Education on academic achievements. Tremblay, Inman & Willms (2000) observed inverse association with academic performance in students of 11 years. This study is worth mentioning because of its large sample size. The research covered close to 7000 students as the sample population. However, the inverse association was reported to be weak to confirm the negative effects. Tremblay, Inman & Willms (2000 Moreover, a positive impact on the self esteem of these children was reported by the same study. Daley & Ryan (2000) found no significant correlation between academic performance and physical education. This study was conducted amongst 232 children of age group 13 to 16 (Daley & Ryan, 2000). More interestingly the researchers concluded that the children who underwent the physical education program scored less marks in English compared to other children. It is worth noting here that this study was done amongst English children (Daley & Ryan, 2000). . Physical education and psychological effects A very important factor that has to be considered while analyzing the connection between physical education and student achievement is the impact of physical education on the psychological factors which further promotes achievement. Body image and self esteem are considered to be two psychological factors which act as drivers of achievement (Libbey, 2004). Ample evidence is available in the literature confirming the connections of these psychological factors with physical education. Many psychosocial outcomes including school satisfaction and school connectedness have been reported to be associated with physical activity and physical education (Libbey, 2004). It must be noted here that it is these factors which leads to improvements in students’ perceptions of the learning environment. School satisfaction and school connectedness thus would automatically mean, less school drop outs and improved student achievements (Libbey, 2004). National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health indicated the positive correlation of the psychological factors of future expectations, Self-esteem, spirituality emotional well-being and mental health with physical activity and physical education (Raudsepp, 2006). The survey also observed that when physical activity and education was supported by parental involvement the degree of positive correlation increased (Raudsepp, 2006). However this observation on the positive connection between physical education and School satisfaction has been contradicted by Katja , Paivi, Marja-Terttu &Pekka (2002). They tried to correlate the problems at school with physical activity and found only a weak correlation between these factors. This linkage was statistically insignificant to prove that physical activities of the students promoted the problems they caused at school Katja , Paivi, Marja-Terttu &Pekka (2002). However, the same study found contradictory observations in global school satisfaction and depressive mood state (Katja , Paivi, Marja-Terttu &Pekka, 2002) Physical education and cognitive function The cognitive functioning of children is a strong determinant of their rate of achievement. There are several studies which concluded positive effects of physical activity and physical education on the cognitive functioning of children. Sibley and Etnier (2003) had positive conclusions on the effect of physical education on the cognitive functioning of children. Students of age group eleven to thirteen had larger influence on their cognitive skills on going undergoing physical education. These children mainly belonged to grades between 6 and 8. Sibley and Etnier (2003) also received the literature available on the effects of physical activity and physical education on the cognitive functioning of children. They considered both unpublished and published works and noted significant positive influence of physical education on children’s cognitive skills. The effects of various exercises on the cognitive skills have been studied by various researchers. As these exercises are the integral part of physical education interventions, their impact can be accounted in connection with the overall impact of physical education. Brisswalter et al (2002) observed that optimal exposure to exercises and modules of physical education had notable improvement in decisional skills (Brisswalter et al ,2002). It must be noted here that decisional skill is a vital indicator of achievement amongst students. It has been opined that exposure to physical education content involving physical exercise at the rate of more than 20 minutes was very effective in causing improvements in decisional and perceptual tasks (Brisswalter et al ,2002). In general, involvement in physical exercises has been found in literatures to have significant impacts on the cognitive skills. Literature on Physical education as an integral component of the curriculum The review of literature clearly suggests that Physical education both in terms of instruction and physical activity should become an integral part of the school curriculum. It has been reported that curtailment of other academic subjects to accommodate physical education can be academically justified in terms of the academic outputs and the impacts on the overall performance of the students. This has been clearly suggested in the ‘zero sum model’ as suggested by James S. Coleman in his work "The Adolescent Society,"(Coleman. 1961). He has argued on the relative advantage of physical education over other academic subjects in helping the students with cognitive skills and other psychological advantages (Coleman. 1961). The hypothesis that if time is taken away from other academic subjects, it would affect the achievements of the students was nullified by his research in case of physical educations as replacement option (Coleman. 1961). This work quantifies the support that physical education as a curriculum provides in promoting student achievements. However, trials with other co curricular activities which involved a large cost supported the hypothesis. Coleman. (1961) also suggests that physical education as a curriculum elements supports the achievements of the students by enhancing their self esteem and personal attachment to the school. Physical education is proved to have a large role in creating a cohesive learning environment. This positive learning pace creates an ideal support system for student achievements. One of the prominent arguments that question the scope of physical education in enhancing student achievement is its probability of getting extended in time as a leisure activity. It is doubted that this will limit the time children has to spend doing their homework. Several researchers suggest the time consumed by physical activities to be positively compensated by curtailing the time spent on television and computer games. Supporting this argument there has been several researches that highlight the increasing dependency of children and the increased time being spent in front of screens. , Daniels and Boulton (2001,p.561-564) has suggested an increase in cases of obesity especially among children and adolescents in the recent past. The excessive use of media can badly affect eyes, backs, and wrists’. (Alliance of Childhood, 2000). Though not a direct impact, by reducing the chances for exercising, extensive use of Information communication technologies would indirectly reduce the possible chances of preventing complexities like cardiovascular diseases, back pain, osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes and even certain kinds of carcinogenic diseases. Studies indicate that ‘playing computer games and other media tools can cause expose to a number of physical risks, including seizures, hand injuries, and changes in heart rate’( Glista, Frank, & Tracy, 1983,p.588). Davis. W R et al (2007) has done a study which has shed light to the fact that preeducators in physical education are not utilized by the academic system as they are supposed to be. As this study covered more than 30 district school systems, the observations would help to develop capacity development material for all the preeducators connected with physical education systems. The study provides insight on the inefficiency of the educational system to provide physical education responsibilities to the preeducators. Role of Physical education in motivating students Role of Physical education in motivating students in achieving better outcomes in education have been confirmed by a number of researchers in the field. Pope (2005, 271-286) has similarly assessed the role of decision making and problem solving capacities in physical education through testing the Teaching games for understanding model (TGfU). Kyriakides & Tsangaridou (2008, 807-838) also have asserted the need of developing generic and differentiated physical education models which again substantiates the relevance of the study. Another study which serves as a support to the motivational role of physical education is the analysis of the tradition physical education model and the model involving motivation by Pritchard; Hawkins; Wiegand & Metzler (2008, 219-236). Papaioannou et. al (2008,219-227) has also explained various models for the physical education curriculum of elementary school. The book review by Kirk (2001, 102) has explained several models in physical education which supports its role in motivating students. Further Guan ; Ron and Ping (2007, 109-129) developed a research model analyzing the role of motivational model in physical education. It evaluated whether the provision for positive feedback activated the specific motivational sequence. The strength in this research model is that it considered the replication of previous research findings through further stringent methodological approaches. This approach critically aids as the strength of the study as it has refined the results through the reworked methodology. This experiment involved a population of 228. This population cannot be considered as a broader one as a similar study on intrinsic motivation in physical education involved a population of 882 Greek students. References Ahamed Y, Macdonald H, Reed K, Naylor PJ, Liu-Ambrose T, McKay H (2007) School-based physical activity does not compromise children's academic performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 39:371-376. Alliance for Childhood. (2004) Overview Preparing Children for a New Century Tech Tonic: Towards a New Literacy of Technology, Alliance for Childhood , College Park, MD:,p.1 Brisswalter J, Collardeau M, Rene A (2002) Effects of acute physical exercise characteristics on cognitive performance. Sports Med, 32:555-566. Coe DP, Pivarnik JM, Womack CJ, Reeves MJ, Malina RM (2006) Effect of physical education and activity levels on academic achievement in children. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 38:1515-1519. Coleman JS (1961) The Adolescent Society: The Social Life of the Teenager and its Impact on Education. New York, NY: Free Press Daley AJ, Ryan J (2000) Academic performance and participation in physical activity by secondary school adolescents. Percept Mot Skills, 91:531-534. Davis. W R et al (2007). Responsibilities and Training Needs of Paraeducators in Physical Education. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 24, 70-83 Fourestier M: (1962) Les experiences scolaires de Vanves. Int Rev Educ , 8:81-85. Glista, G G; Frank, H G; and Tracy, W.F. (1983) Video games and seizures Arch Neurology 40, pp.588 Guan J et al (2007) ‘Reliability and Validity Evidence for Achievement Goal Models in High School Physical Education Settings’, Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, Vol. 11, No.2, pp. 109 - 129 Katja R, Paivi AK, Marja-Terttu T, Pekka L (2002) Relationships among adolescent subjective well-being, health behavior, and school satisfaction. J School Health, 72(6):243-249. Kirk, David (2001), Physical Models for Physical Education, Culture, Sport, Society, vol.4, no.1, p.102 Kyriakides L & Tsangaridou N (2008) Towards the development of generic and differentiated models of educational effectiveness: a study on school and teacher effectiveness in physical education, British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 807 - 838 Libbey HP (2004) Measuring student relationships to school: attachment, bonding, connectedness, and engagement. J School Health, 74:274-283. 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