The Impact of Technology-Enhanced Classroom Physical Activity Interventions on Executive Function, Motivation, and Physical Fitness.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of technology-enhanced classroom-based physical activity interventions on executive function, physical activity, aerobic fitness and motivation. Two intervention groups (Physical Activities Engaging the Brain (PAEB) + Fitbit Challenge (C) and Fitbit Only (Fitbit-O)) and one comparison group were examined from two schools (N=116). The first study examined whether students exposed to daily coordinated bilateral activities showed an increase in executive function, measured by the d2-Test. Children in the PAEB-C group showed significant improvements on the d2-Test compared to the other two groups (p < .01). The second study examined if children in the Fitbit groups (i.e., PAEB-C and Fitbit-O) improved their fitness over the comparison group, whether the PAEB-C participated in more physical activity than the Fitbit-O students, and if an individual’s fitness was correlated to their d2-Test scores. The study revealed significant improvements in fitness between the Fitbit groups and the comparison (p < .001), but not between the PAEB-C and the Fitbit-O. Children in the PAEB-C took significantly more steps, 2206 per day, and were significantly less sedentary than the Fitbit-O. Student’s fitness scores were directly correlated to the d2-test (p < .01). The final study investigated whether the addition of Fitbits increased a child’s motivation and attitudes compared to the comparison group. Both Fitbit groups scored significantly higher for autonomous motivation and attitude (AMA) (p < .05) relative to the comparison group. The PAEB-C also scored higher for Self-Perception (SP). Finally, along with the pre-test for fitness, AMA and SP were predictive of a student’s post-fitness test (p < .001). This study highlights the benefits of adding a Fitbit physical activity intervention into classrooms to improve executive function, motivation and fitness. It is the first to use a child’s motivations and attitudes to predict a student’s future fitness. It reveals that an easy-to-use, minimal interruption intervention is a feasible addition to any school, and it can improve fitness, physical activity, attitudes, motivation and executive function in the classroom. It may also have possible critical policy implications for future classroom-based physical activity interventions.PhDKinesiologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133184/1/heday_1.pd