| << Chapter < Page | Chapter >> Page > |
These considerations led a group of physicians at the University of Georgia to organize an after-school program of physical activity for elementary school students (Yin, et al., 2005), and to assess whether the program actually helped prevent weight gain in students. Students volunteered for a program that had three components: 30 minutes of physical activity, a healthy snack, and assistance with the students’ homework. (The researchers explain that assistance with homework had nothing to do with weight loss, but was very important in getting students to attend and getting parents to support the program!) Staff for the program included a mix of regular teachers from the school (not necessarily physical education specialists) and other individuals hired specifically for the project. Physical activities were chosen in part by the students, and were generally non-competitive and cooperative in nature.
Initial results of the program have been very encouraging; students and parents support the program strongly, and teachers have been successful in making sure that students are actually active enough during the program sessions. Since the program is still ongoing, however, it will be a few more years before there will be definitive results about weight gain, or lack thereof.
It is hard to disagree with the purposes of this study—reducing the prevalence of obesity. But does it really show what it claims? Be a deliberate skeptic for a moment and ask yourself these questions:
If the students were volunteers, how typical do you think they are of all students?
And if the teachers are receiving a large research grant to implement the program, might they be working harder to do a good job than most of us ordinarily work?
An important ambiguity about the program was the fact that it included both physical activity and homework assistance. Think about this ambiguity.
If the researchers split up these two elements—offering only one or the other at any one school—how might the split affect the outcomes?
Would different sorts of students volunteer as a result of the split, and how if at all would their selection matter?
Ogden, C., Flega, K., Carroll, M.&Johnson, C. (2002). Prevalence and trends in overweight among U.S. children and adolescents, 1999-2000. Journal of the American Medical Assocation, 288 (14), 1728-1732.
Narayan, K., Boyle, J., Thompson, T., Sorensen, S.,&Williamson, D. (2003). Lifetime risk for diabetes mellitus in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association, 290 (14), 1884-1890.
Bawa, S. (2005). The role of the consumption of beverages in the obesity epidemic. Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 125 (3), 124-128.Yin, Z., Hanes, J., Moore, J., Humbles, P., Barbeau,&Gutin, B. (2005). An after-school physical activity program for obesity prevention in children. Evaluation and the Health Professions, 28(1), 67-89.
In addition to speaking a language other than English at home, many students learn another version or dialect of English. A dialect is a version of a language with somewhat unique vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. The most prominent dialect of English in North America is African-American English, sometimes also called Ebonics. Intellectually and emotionally, Ebonics is just as rich and capable of expressiveness as “Standard English,” the dialect usually used, for example, by radio and television news broadcasters. It is used by many African Americans in the United States, though not by all and often not in every possible situation.
Notification Switch
Would you like to follow the 'Educational psychology' conversation and receive update notifications?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|