Physical Educators’ Perceptions and Attitudes
Toward Interactive Video Game Technology
within the Physical Education Curriculum
William D. Russell, PhD
Dept. of Health, Physical
Education, and Recreation
Missouri Western State University
1
Background
•
Childhood obesity has been a national epidemic - physical education
programs have the potential to be an effective intervention point for
school-age children (USDHHS, 2000).
•
Recent government-sponsored (Surgeon General) initiatives has
targeted ways to improve fitness and physical activity levels in children
and reducing overweight and obesity levels:
–
–
•
“50 schools in 50 states” initiative to improve the health standards of
school-age children.
“Shaping America’s Youth.” brings together public/private organizations
and advocacy groups to reduce problem of childhood obesity.
In the midst of PE curriculum dilemmas, daily PE programs have been
advocated as a critical intervention point to providing students “tools
for reaching academic success” including :
–
physical health improvement, mental health enhancement, academic
performance improvement, reaching at-risk students, and ultimately reducing
medical costs
(PE for Life, July 2005)
2
3
Background (Cont)
•
•
Over last two decades, number of overweight and obese children in US
has tripled (Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent Obesity, 2004).
Major cause of overweight/obesity is lack of physical activity.
–
–
–
Lack of physical activity is traced to increased prevalence of TVs, computers,
and video game activity by adolescents.
Children’s weight status has been clearly related to regular video game usage
in national sample of children, with higher weights being related to higher
rates of video games (Vandewater, Shim, & Caplovitz, 2004).
Recently, in examining male adolescents barriers for participating in physical
activity, boys reported a preference to engage in technology-related activities
such as video games and related computer activities. Under time constraints,
they preferred to engage in time-consuming activities that involved computer
technology (Allison, Dwyer, Golderberg, Fein, Yoshida, & Boultilier, 2005) .
4
Interactive Video Game
Technology:
•
•
Paradoxically, recent popularity within video game industry has been
interactive video game technology (IVGT).
With technological advances, there is realization that there may be further
benefits to interactive gaming than simply entertainment including:
–
–
–
–
•
•
•
Using interactive technology to treat children with ADHD
Training and treatment of injured soldiers in rehabilitation
Educating college students in learning complex subject matters within medical
fields
Reaching at-risk and special needs children within the physical education context
(Lawler, 2005, personal communication)
Movement-based IVGT includes applications as Dance Dance Revolution,
Xavix, Eye-Toy,Sportwall, Cybex Trazer, V-Cycling, Powergrid, Makato, and
CatEye.
All contain either interfaces between a gaming system and exercise
equipment or allow the use of video games to interact with a sport event from
a 1st person perspective (Yang, Vasil, & Graham, 2005).
Given that technology is an important part of American culture and with
increased targeting of adolescents with IVGT applications, it is surprising that
little research has studied effects of IVGT on physical and affective
outcomes, as well as their ability to increase motivation in PE students within
5
the PE curriculum.
Dance Dance Revolution
CatEye Bikes
Xavix
6
Eye-Toy (Playstation)
Sportwall
Cybex Trazer
V-Cycling
PowerGrid
7
Purpose:
•
•
•
•
Given that video games are implicated as barrier for physical activity
and PA levels decline during adolescence, objective, empirical
support is needed for integration and effectiveness of various
movement-based technology into PE programs.
In order to support “best practices”, support must be obtained for
physical and psychological benefits in order to support a rationale
for inclusion of these applications into PE programs.
Since practitioners’ knowledge, attitude and comfort toward new
practices may be barriers to implementing these methods, it is
important to determine feasibility of IVGT integration into the
schools.
The major purposes of the study were:
–
–
To examine the attitude, skills base, knowledge, and anticipated usage of
interactive video game technology within the PE curriculum
To examine perceived barriers of practitioners in the use / integration of
IVGT into their programs.
8
Research Questions:
•
In addition to generating descriptive results on attitudes, knowledge,
perception, and anticipated usage of both general and IVGT, the following
were research questions in the present study:
1.
Is there a relationship between teachers’ attitude between general
technology, IVGT, and knowledge, experience, comfort, and anticipated use
of IVGT?
Is IVGT knowledge, experience, comfort, and anticipated use related to
whether teachers perceive barriers to IVGT integration?
Do attitudes about general technology and IVGT differ as a function of
teacher age, gender, grade level, experience, and class format?
Is there a relationship between general technology experience and and
knowledge, experience, comfort, and anticipated use of IVGT applications?
Does IVGT knowledge, experience, comfort, and anticipated use differ as a
function of teacher age, grade level, and experience?
2.
3.
4.
5.
9
Procedures
•
Subjects were mailed surveys with informed consent and told to
briefly indicate their responses in an anonymous fashion.
•
Physical education coordinators were also contacted and asked for
their permission to survey K-12 physical educators through their
offices.
•
Permission was obtained from school superintendents prior to
administering the survey through the mail
•
A follow-up reminder was send to both the individual K-12
practitioners as well as the physical education coordinators
Subjects –
•
36 teachers completed surveys from the following Missouri school
districts:
–
–
Saint Joseph, MO
North Kansas City, MO
10
General Descriptives:
•
•
•
•
36 practitioners surveyed; (35 regular full-time, 1 district coordinator; males: n =17); females: n
=19)
Are you the primary physical education teacher at your school?
YES: 31 (86%) NO: 5 (14%)
Other responsibilities mentioned:
Basketball (6), Track (4), Football (2), Health (2), Soccer, Cross-country, First aid, Tennis,
Volleyball, Computers.
Elementary teachers (n=17); Middle school teachers (n=10); Secondary school teachers (n=9)
Variable
Teacher Age
Mean
SD
36.63
11.1
8.88
8.84
5.58
2.58
23.08
6.62
3.64
1.27
Importance of access to technology in general
(1=very important; 4=not at all important)
1.75
.50
Importance of integrating technology into YOUR teaching
(1=very important; 4 not at all important)
1.86
.42
General attitude toward technology
(1 = love using; 6 =hate using)
2.11
.63
Years of Experience
Number of classes taught per day
Average class size
Frequency of class (days/week)
11
Descriptives: General Computer
Application Experience and Comfort
Computer Application
Experience Level
Comfort Level
Computers in general
M = 1.75 SD = .55
M = 1.64 SD = .59
Word Processing
M = 1.42 SD = .61
M = 1.50 SD = .61
Spreadsheets (e.g. Excel)
M = 2.31 SD = .75
M = 2.33 SD = .79
Databases
M = 3.28 SD = .49
M = 2.83 SD = .97
Graphics
M = 3.08 SD = .87
M = 3.31 SD = 1.54
Presentation Software
PowerPoint)
M = 2.53 SD = 1.08
M = 2.50 SD =1.21
M = 2.83 SD .91
M = 2.94 SD = .95
Internet Software
M = 1.77 SD = 1.04
M = 1.89 SD = 1.11
Internet Search Engines
M = 1.64 SD = .90
M = 1.67 SD .96
Hypermedia / Multimedia
M =3.58 SD = .55
M = 3.36 SD = .80
Integrated Learning Systems
M = 3.27 SD = .81
M = 3.27 SD = .74
Simulation programs
M = 3.64 SD = .54
M = 3.50 SD = .56
Drill / Tutorial Programs
M = 3.33 SD = .72
M = 3.17 SD = .77
Desktop Publishing
12
Attitudes Toward Technology Integration in Physical Education:
Indicate how often you integrate some form of general technology into your PE curriculum
--------- Never
13 (36%)
Hardly Ever (once or twice a year)
13 (36%)
Fairly Regularly (1-2 Times per month)
9 (25%)
Regularly (weekly)
1 (3%)
Always (almost every day or every day)
How much do you believe that technology has changed or determined the way physical education program are taught?
12 (33%)
Greatly
23 (64%)
Somewhat
1 (3%)
Not at All
1 (3%)
No Opinion
How do you believe that technology has changed/determined the way YOU teach your classes and plan your curriculum?
7 (19%)
Greatly
23 (64%)
Somewhat
5 (14%)
Not at all
1 (3%)
No Opinion
How would you rate your understanding of how interactive video game technology can be used to facilitate teaching and learning in
your classes?
15 (42%)
Not confident
15 (42%)
I am aware of this technology, but I do not know how to use it
5 (14%)
I know how to use this technology, but don’t know how to use it to foster teaching
1 (3%)
I am confident with using this technology and using it to foster effective teaching PE
Which of the statements would BEST summarize your attitude toward use of interactive video game technology into your PE
classes?
3 (8%)
This type of application has no place in the PE curriculum
7 (19%)
This type of technology application has limited function in the PE curriculum
3 (8%)
This type of technology application may improve motivation, but will not improve physical activity
2 (6%)
This type of technology application may improve physical activity but will not improve PA
16 (44%)
This technology application has the potential to be effective only to the degree that teachers link activities back to
learning objectives
5 (14%)
This type of technology application must be integrated into the PE curriculum if student motivation and PA levels are
to be enhanced
13
Teachers’ perceptions of student interest in video game
technology:
Variable
(1=very interested; 5 not at all interested)
Mean
SD
Hand-Held video games (GameBoy)
1.52
.88
Video Game Consoles (Playstation)
1.30
.63
Computer CD-ROM games
1.58
.73
Internet Games
1.72
.84
Internet-Based Games
1.72
.82
Interactive Video Games (Dance Dance Revolution)
1.72
.88
Discipline-Specific Technology currently being integrated
(Q17):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Pedometers
Heart Rate Monitors
Tri-Fit Assessment
FITNESSGRAM Software
None
BMI calculator (Internet)
FITLINKS
Video workouts
33
9
7
3
3
2
2
1
(92%)
(25%)
(19%)
(8%)
(8%)
(5%)
(5%)
(3%)
14
Teacher’s Perceptions regarding IVGT
Applications
Application
Knowledge
Experience
Comfort
Usage
1. Dance Dance Revolution
M = 2.56
SD = .91
M =3.75
SD = .58
M = 3.06
SD = .86
M = 3.94
SD = .92
2. Eye Toy (Playstation)
M = 3.33
SD = .83
M = 3.69
SD = .62
M = 3.31
SD = .75
M = 4.25
SD = .97
3. Xavix
M = 3.81
SD = .47
M = 3.97
SD = .17
M =3.58
SD = .60
M = 4.36
SD =.83
4. CatEye
M = 3.36
SD = .90
M= 3.58
SD= .77
M = 3.28
SD = .81
M = 4.02
SD = 1.10
5. Sportwall
M = 3.78
SD = .48
M = 3.89
SD = .32
M = 3.56
SD =.56
M = 4.28
SD = .94
6. Cybex Trazer
M = 3.80
SD = .52
M = 3.83
SD = .51
M =3.56
SD = .61
M = 4.28
SD = 1.03
7. V-Cycling
M =3.47
SD =.74
M = 3.67
SD = .59
M = 3.47
SD = .65
M = 4.17
SD = 1.03
8. PowerGrid
M = 3.83
SD = .56
M = 3.83
SD =.51
M = 3.61
SD =.60
M = 4.19
SD = 1.04
9. Makato
M =4.00
SD =.00
M = 3.97
SD =.17
M = 3.69
SD = .52
M = 4.41
SD = .87
Knowledge: 1 = Lots of knowledge; 4 = no knowledge
Experience: 1 = lots of experience, 4 = no experience 15
Comfort: 1=very comfortable; 4= not at all comfortable Usage: 1 = daily; 5 = never
Results
1.
Relationship between teachers’ attitude toward general technology, IVGT,
and their knowledge, experience, comfort, and anticipated usage of IVGT
applications:
•
More favorable attitudes toward general technology were associated
with more positive attitudes toward IVGT integration (questions 12 and
21) (r =-.34, p<.05).
More favorable attitudes toward technology were also associated with a
greater understanding of how IVGT could be used to facilitate teaching.
(questions 12 and 20) (r =-.36, p <.05)
Significant relationships found for:
•
•
–
–
General attitude toward technology (Q12) and DDR knowledge (r =.35, p<.05)
Teachers’ understanding for how IVGT use to facilitate teaching (Q 20) and:
•
–
CatEye knowledge (r =-.34), Cybex Trazer knowledge (r =-.44), , V-cycling knowledge
(r =-.46), Cybex experience (r =-.51), V-cycling experience (r=-.46), CatEye comfort
(r=-.40), Sportwall comfort (r =-.40), Cybex Trazer comfort (r=-.43), and V-cycling
comfort (r=-.43) (p<.05)
Favorable attitudes about IVGT integration into PE (Q 21) and:
•
V-cycling knowledge (r=-.40) and V-cycling experience (r =-.36) (p <.05)
16
Results (Cont):
2.
•
•
Is IVGT knowledge, experience, comfort, and anticipated usage related to
teachers’ perceptions of barriers to IVGT integration?
A one-way MANOVA examined whether IVGT knowledge, experience, comfort, and
anticipated usage differed according to whether teachers’ indicated there were
perceived barriers to integrating these applications into the curriculum.
No significant effect was found (Wilk’s Lambda (3,32) =.817, p >.05), indicating that
knowledge, experience, comfort, and anticipated usage were not affected by their
perceptions of barriers for integration.
Barriers that would prevent IVGT integration into PE curriculum at your school? (Q26)
YES: 15 (42%) NO: 21 (58%)
Lack of money/funding
Lack of space and equipment
Difficulty engaging entire class
Lack of tech support
Lack of time to be trained
Lack of student interest
Installation
Physical education is low funding priority
9
7
2
2
2
1
1
1
17
Results (Cont):
3.
Can attitudes about technology and IVGT be predicted by teacher age,
gender, grade level, experience, class frequency format, and time block
format?
•
Two separate multiple regressions were performed for (1) general
technology attitude and (2) IVGT attitude, using age, gender, grade
level, experience, class frequency, and time block as predictors.
General Technology Attitude –
•
Significant overall regression equation (F (6,34) = 3.02, p <.05, R2 =.39).
–
Regression results indicated that teachers’ grade was most predictive of
general technology attitude; secondary level physical educators had more
positive attitude toward general technology than elementary teachers.
IVGT Attitude –
•
No significant regression results for prediction of criterion from
predictor variables (F (6,34) =1.02, p >.05, R2 =.18
18
Results (Cont):
4.
Is there a relationship between teachers’ general computer technology
experience and IVGT application knowledge, experience, comfort and
anticipated usage?
•
Multiple correlations were performed across general technology
experience and teachers’ IVGT knowledge, experience, comfort and
anticipated usage to examine relationships across these variables.
Results of these correlation matrices were nonsignificant, indicating that,
in general, teachers’ general technology experience was unrelated to their
knowledge, experience level, comfort, or anticipated usage of various
IVGT applications
Several correlations did reach significance:
•
•
–
–
Presentation software experience was related to: DDR knowledge (r =.33,
p<.05), CatEye knowledge (r =.33, p<.05) and V-Cycling knowledge (r =.43,
p<.01). Internet software experience was also related to V-cycling knowledge
(r=.34, p<.05)
Presentation software experience was related to CatEye experience (r =.34,
p<.05) and V-cycling experience (r =.38, p<.05); Internet software experience
was related to V-cycling experience, (r =.34, p,.05); Drill/practice program
19
experience was related to V-cycling experience, (r =.34, p<.05)
Results (Cont):
5.
•
1.
Does IVGT knowledge, experience, comfort, and anticipated usage differ
as a function of teacher gender, grade level, and years of teaching
experience?
4 separate MANOVAs  Gender (M/F), Grade Level (Elementary, Middle, Secondary)
and experience (< 5yrs, 6-15 yrs, >15 yrs) as IVs and knowledge, experience, comfort,
and anticipated usage on 9 IVGT applications as DVs
–
(DDR, EyeToy, Xavix, CatEye, Sportwall, Cybex Trazer, V-Cycling, Powergrid,
Makato)
IVGT Knowledge:
–
3 way (Gender, Grade, Experience) MANOVA on knowledge was significant (Wilk’s
Lambda (8,36) =5.88, p<.001)
•
Significant Univariate ANOVAs for teacher experience on:
–
–
–
•
CatEye Knowledge (F(2,21) =5.66, p<.05)  < 5 yrs experience > teachers with 6-15 yrs or > 15 yrs
experience.
Cybex Trazer Knowledge (F(2,21) =8.63, p<.001)  < 5 yrs experience > teachers with 6-15 yrs or
> 15 yrs experience.
V-Cycling knowledge (F(2,21) =6.64, p<..001)  < 5 yrs experience > teachers with 6-15 yrs or >
15 yrs experience
Significant Univariate ANOVAs for grade level on:
–
–
20
DDR knowledge (F(2,21) =6.60, p<.001)  Elementary > Middle, Secondary level teachers.
V-Cycling knowledge (F(2,21) =5.30, p<.05)  Elementary > Middle, Secondary level teachers
Results (Cont):
5.
Does IVGT knowledge, experience, comfort, and anticipated usage differ as
a function of teacher gender, grade level, and years of teaching
experience?
2.
IVGT Experience:
–
3.
3 way (Gender, Grade, Experience) MANOVA on experience was not significant (Wilk’s
Lambda (8,36) =4.58, p>.05).
IVGT Comfort:
–
3 way (Gender, Grade, Experience) MANOVA on comfort was significant (Wilk’s Lambda
(9,36) =3.07, p<.05).
Significant univariate ANOVAs for teachers’ experience:
–
•
•
4.
Xavix Comfort (F(2,14) =4.81, p<.05  < 5 yrs experience > teachers with 6-15 yrs or > 15
yrs experience.
Cybex Trazer Comfort (F(2,14) =4.86, p<.05  < 5 yrs experience > teachers with 6-15 yrs
or > 15 yrs experience.
IVGT Anticipated Usage:
–
3 way (Gender, Grade, Experience) MANOVA on anticipated usage was significant
(Wilk’s Lambda (9,36) =3.64, p<.05).
Significant univariate ANOVAs for teachers’ experience:
–
•
•
CatEye Usage (F(2,14) =3.75, p<.05  < 5 yrs experience > teachers with 6-15 yrs or > 15
yrs experience.
V-Cycling Usage (F(2,14) =4.18, p<.05  < 5 yrs experience > teachers with 6-15 yrs or >
21
15 yrs experience.
Correlations: IVGT Comfort and Anticipated Usage:
IVGT Anticipated Usage
DDR
EyeToy
Xavix
CatEy
e
Sportwall
Cybex
V-Cycling
Powergri
d
Makato
.44**
.29
.25
.15
.26
.31
.35*
.28
.27
.31
.48**
.23
.20
.27
.23
.27
.22
.24
.22
.28
.19
.27
.26
.29
.35*
.22
.28
.17
.16
.10
.43**
.05
.04
.15
.14
.07
.12
.11
.11
.16
.13
.17
.28
.10
.22
.21
.15
.16
.27
.22
.30
.40*
.19
.25
.28
.17
.15
.26
.20
.27
.43**
.16
.20
.16
.22
.23
.15
.10
.04
.11
.26
.21
.19
.21
.19
.16
.18
.11
.20
.17
22
.29
DDR
Eyetoy
IVGT Comfort
Xavix
CatEye
Sportwall
Cybex
V-Cycling
Powergri
d
Makato
* p <.05, ** p <..001
Conclusions:
•
•
•
Teachers’ more favorable general technology attitudes were associated
with more favorable attitudes toward IVGT applications and their possible
integration into the PE curriculum.
Perceptions of potential barriers to IVGT integration did not factor into
teachers’ attitudes toward IVGT applications, BUT THE TEACHERS IN THIS
SAMPLE HAD VERY LITTLE KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, OR COMFORT
WITH THESE APPLICATIONS.
Age, gender, grade level, experience, class frequency, and time block were not
predictors of IVGT, probably due to the fact that few practitioners were familiar with
these applications.
–
•
•
More positive attitudes toward technology in general were predicted by grade level,
with secondary teachers’ level more predictive of a more positive attitude
There were no relationships between general computer technology experience and
IVGT experience, knowledge, comfort, or anticipated usage.
If any teacher segment is familiar with various IVGT applications, it appears that :
–
–
–
Younger, less experienced teachers are more likely to have been exposed and thus
have more IVGT knowledge
Younger, less experienced teachers are more likely to have more comfort to use
certain IVGT applications
Younger, less experienced teachers are more likely to anticipate they would use the
23
various IVGT applications in their programs
Recommendations:
•
For practitioners to effectively integrate new technologies and use them
in teaching for learning, they must be knowledgeable, experienced, and
comfortable in using this technology.
–
These survey results indicate a need to expose educators to IVGT
more than they currently are.
•
Teachers must be given opportunities for professional development in
technology integration if they are expected to work toward integration of
technology in accordance with NASPE’s 9th PETE standard where:
“Physical education teachers use information technology to enhance learning and
to enhance personal and professional productivity.” (NASPE, 2001, p. 8).
•
•
There appears to be a disparity between recommended benefits of
IVGT in PE curriculums (Yang, Vasil, & Graham, 2005) and teachers’
current knowledge, experience, and comfort levels – These barriers
must be addressed before wide-scale IVGT application lead to “best
practices” for motivation and PA enhancement in PE curriculums
Larger scale surveys addressing practitioners’ current knowledge
and attitudes toward IVGT is warranted to further examine if these
factors are barriers to widespread implementation.
24
References:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Allison, K.R., Dwyer. J.J., Goldenberg. E., Allan, F., Yoshida, K.K., & Boultilier, M.
(2005). Male adolescents’ reasons for participating in physical activity, barriers to
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Lawler, P. (2005, October). Personal communication, PE4Life Summit Meeting,
October, 2005, Kansas City, MO.
National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2001). Standards for initial
programs in physical education teacher education. From
http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/pdf_files/standards_initial.pdf
PE4Life. (2005). Integrating Video Game Technology into Physical Education. July
USDHHS (November, 2000). Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving
Health. (2nd Ed.) Washington, DC: United States Government Printing.
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(ANCPR Publication No. S9593 2001). Rockville MD: Author..
Vandewater, E.A., Shim, M., & Caplovitz, A.G. (2004). Linking obesity and activity level
with children’s television and video game use. Journal of Adolescence, 27, 71-85
Yang, S., Vasil, J. & Graham, G. (2005, April). Video Fitness Games: If you can’t beat
‘em, join ‘em. Symposium presented at the 2005 AAHPERD Conference, Chicago,
Illinois.
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