Recreation Gaps, Bridged? : An Evaluation of UBC’s Move More, Learn More Program for Female, Chinese Students

This investigation aimed to evaluate the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) pilot program, Move More, Learn More, which intended to fill a necessary recreation gap and target physical activity knowledge and behaviours of domestic and international Chinese female students. This was done with the understanding that these students tend to be less active than the national average (Diep et al., 2017) and do not meet the current suggested movement guidelines (World Health Organization, 2015). Specifically, this evaluation aimed to assess the success of Move More, Learn More’s current promotional strategies and identify the primary motivators and barriers to program participation for both Chinese female domestic and international students. This was done through the distribution of an online, secure survey through both digital and in-person efforts. Digital recruitment involved sharing the survey link and an accompanying description to various UBC affiliated Facebook pages. In-person recruitment was directed towards rectifying ratios of domestic versus international student responses, and involved approaching Chinese females living in the Fairview Crescent residence on UBC campus. The survey covered demographic questions, inquiries into current health behaviours, motivators, barriers, and probes regarding interest and awareness surrounding Move More, Learn, More. The nine-day recruitment period resulted in 18 completed surveys, with 11 domestic and 7 international responses. The multiple choice or “select all that apply” responses were recorded, tallied and converted to percentages. The open response questions were reviewed with content analysis, which found that the majority of domestic and international respondents did value physical activity. However, many failed to meet the recommended World Health Organization guidelines of 60 minutes of moderate-vigorous exercise three days per week, as our data displayed a mean of 2.18 ± 1.5 days (domestic) and 1.33 ± 0.5 days (international). Both groups primarily exercised in a gym or outdoor setting and the largest barrier towards physical activity was found to be time. However international students also struggled with a lack of exercise knowledge, whereas domestic students found location and money to be obstacles. Both groups were similarly motivated to exercise by health, physical appearance and enjoyment. No participants had heard of Move More, Learn More prior to taking the survey. Upon being provided a description of the program, 9% of domestic and 43% of international respondents expressed definite interest in participation. Content analysis revealed that domestic students were drawn to the program as a means of additional exercise opportunity, but deterred by the time commitment and satisfaction with their current exercise knowledge. Contrastingly, international students were drawn to the program due to both its educational and exercise components, but were still deterred by the time commitment. These findings lead to the recommendations of enhancing promotion of Move More, Learn More through social media, expanding the exercise components to include more gym exercise and education, and potentially directing program recruitment efforts to primarily international students, if the program were to remain in its current state. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Education, Faculty ofKinesiology, School ofUnreviewedUndergraduat