Project SMART: A cooperative educational game to increase physical activity in elementary schools

Julien, Christine; Castelli, Darla M.; Bray, Dylan; Lee, Sangsu; Burson, Sheri L.; Jung, Yeonhak

doi:10.1016/j.smhl.2020.100163

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Most of the students reported that walking to school made them feel happier, healthier, made more friends, had more time with their friends, and could more easily concentrate in class. Julien et al [23] developed an educational collaborative game where students reported their daily physical activity during physical education class, recess, and transport home. Their activity was then compared to running distances using the same amount of energy as the students had used while active.…”

Section: Gamification As a Solution For Increased Physical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Design and Testing of Multiplayer Cooperative Game to Support Physical Activity in Schools

et al. 2022

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Recent studies have shown that children are not adequately physically active and there is a need to increase children’s physical activity. This study describes new opportunities and solutions for using existing games and gamification to increase physical activity among children in Sweden. We adopted the principles of Tic-Tac-Training to redesign, build, and test a classical multiplayer cooperative game, Battleship, to create a PA game that children experience as fun and engaging. The low fidelity prototype of the game was developed using an iterative game development life cycle and tested with 13 young male children aged 8–11 in a real-world informal setting. A mixed-method research approach was used to understand the users’ experiences and the impact of the Battleship-PA game on behavior change regarding physical activity. Research data were collected through audio recordings of interactions, direct observation, and a user experience questionnaire. The results of this study indicate both positive and negative feedback that can be used to improve the game and user experiences. The results from the unfiltered recordings revealed that both teams were competitive, cooperated within their team, and became excited whenever they destroyed opponent’s ships or were close to winning. However, the children felt bored and exhausted when many gamification tasks were repeated several times in a game session. Direct observation indicated that the children enjoyed the physical activities resulting from playing the game. However, participants who had not previously played the classical version of Battleship were confused about the objectives and concept of the game. The analysis of the user experience questionnaire indicated that most children found the game easy to play, motivating, engaging, interactive, fun, cooperative, competitive, and visually appealing. Furthermore, most children agreed that the game helped them to be physically active and strongly agreed that they enjoyed performing the physical activities in the game. Future work is needed to improve the game user interface, gamification elements, and prepare additional physical activity tasks for a rewarding experience.

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Section: Gamification As a Solution For Increased Physical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Design and Testing of Multiplayer Cooperative Game to Support Physical Activity in Schools

et al. 2022

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“…Despite all the recognized benefits of sports, worldwide around 1 in 4 adults is not sufficiently physically active ( WHO, 2020 ). In order to promote physical exercise, various awareness campaigns and programs have recently been set up, such as the Project Smart which promotes physical activity for children through games ( Julien et al, 2021 ) or the global action plan of the WHO to encourage sport activities ( WHO, 2018 ). In order to avoid any risk of injury, it is crucial that sports practice is supervised and adapted to each person.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blood Microsampling to Monitor Metabolic Profiles During Physical Exercise

Nix

Hemmati

Cobraiville

et al. 2021

Front. Mol. Biosci.

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Monitoring approaches and technical improvements are key factors to improve a sportsman’s health, training, and recovery after an injury. In this study, a targeted metabolomics approach using microsampling with hemaPEN® was developed to measure changes in blood concentrations of nine amino acids and four organic acids before, during, and after exercise. The aim of this research project was to investigate if a reliable monitoring of metabolite levels during sports activity can be achieved by collecting one drop of whole blood at different time points. A hemaPEN device is an easy-to-use and noninvasive microsampling technique designed to collect four accurate and precise blood volumes simultaneously (10.96 µl). Twenty healthy volunteers between 19 and 30 years of age were included in this study. Physical activity consisted in running as fast as possible 1,600 m after 400 m warm-up. One drop of blood was collected at five time points: before exercise, after 800-m running, after 1,600 m, and 30 min and 60 min after finishing the exercise. The influence of physical activity on metabolite levels was evaluated using two ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) methods. Analytical performance criteria such as metabolite stability, method precision, trueness, and accuracy were found to be satisfactory. Expected significant metabolic changes were identified for lactic acid, main TCA cycle intermediates, and some amino acids (e.g., creatinine, choline, and taurine). This preliminary study performed on a small cohort demonstrated a high interest of using microsampling for fluxomics analysis, not only to collect quickly and easily biological samples during sports events but also because it is much easier to store and to process the samples than classical plasma/serum samples obtained by venipuncture. The present results open new avenue for fluxomics analysis in the context of health care.

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“…The Project SMART research effort was originally introduced by Julien et al (2021) as an online cooperative game designed to increase PA in elementary students while teaching academic content driven by state standards. While this previous work described the technical efforts to construct the game and pilot deployment of technical feasibility in a small setting, this paper instead focuses on how the entire Project SMART was designed, developed, and applied in the school settings to increase PA among elementary students using IMP.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a School-Based Physical Activity Intervention Using an Integrated Approach: Project SMART

et al. 2021

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Physical activity (PA) is a health-protective factor with multiple benefits for school-age children, yet only 22% of children and adolescents living in the United States (United States) accrue the recommended amount of moderate to vigorous PA. Given the prevalence of insufficient PA among children, promoting and providing PA opportunities during the school day, especially when integrated into the curriculum and linked to the learning standards, is essential for children. The purpose of this paper is to describe the procedure for the development of a school-based PA program using an integrated approach through the modified intervention mapping protocol (IMP). A total of 22 physical education teachers and 167 children from five different elementary schools were involved in the process. The procedure includes the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) that provides a theoretical framework that plays a vital role in motivating students to have a physically active lifestyle. This study applied SDT and IMP to develop and pilot a PA intervention called Project SMART using an integrative community participatory approach. As a pilot PA intervention, Project SMART is an online educational game where the students navigate a virtual journey across the United States A class’s aggregate PA propels the students on their journey, where standards-based modules are unlocked to achieve STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and social-emotional learning outcomes while gaining an understanding of the importance of health behaviors and opportunities to habitually engage in healthy decision-making with the support of their peers. Although initially labor intensive for the researchers, the process of tailoring the intervention to the children’s contextual and cultural needs has implications for all theoretically grounded and evidence-based PA interventions.

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Project SMART: A cooperative educational game to increase physical activity in elementary schools

Cited by 10 publications

References 18 publications

Initial Design and Testing of Multiplayer Cooperative Game to Support Physical Activity in Schools

Initial Design and Testing of Multiplayer Cooperative Game to Support Physical Activity in Schools

Blood Microsampling to Monitor Metabolic Profiles During Physical Exercise

Development of a School-Based Physical Activity Intervention Using an Integrated Approach: Project SMART

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