Class context, teacher behavior, and physical activity levels during physical education classes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test the association between classroom context, teacher’s behavior and the physical activity (PA) level of elementary school students during physical education (PE) classes. Eighteen PE classes from six schools were evaluated. Classrrom context and teacher’s behavior were assessed by systematic observation (SOFIT) while students' PA level was measured by accelerometry. Data were treated by descriptive statistics and presented as a proportion of class time in sedentary behavior and at different PA levels. Association between classroom context and teacher behavior with different PA levels was tested by binary logistic regression. The student spent more time during PE class in light (40.8%) and vigorous (40.9%) PAs. The largest proportion of class time was allocated to the context of: structured games (35.8%), skill practice (23.2%) and management (21.7%) context represented 80.7% total time of PE class. The most frequent behavior of the teacher were: general instruction (45.5%), management (28.7%) and observing (18.3%). It was found that the proportion of student’s time in sedentary behavior and at different levels of PA during the PE class varied according to the context of the class and the teachers' behavior.

Vegetative regulation of vascular tone and features of the nervous system of pedagogical universities students. Is there a relationship with professional specialization?

“…Thus, it has been established [5,15] that students from different faculties differ in the features of cognitive activity. This is reflected in the preferences in the choice of sports and physical activity for the use of various physical exercises [16][17][18]. In order for physical education classes to be interesting for students and bring maximum benefits to their health, it is necessary to select the types of motor activity taking into account their interests, as well as functional capabilities [19][20][21][22] and properties of the nervous system [23].…”