Movement integration (MI) is a strategy for integrating physical activity into general education classroom time. National organizations have endorsed MI as a key strategy for helping children accumulate the recommended 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day because research consistently demonstrates that MI can provide meaningful amounts of physical activity, improve on-task behavior, enhance cognitive function, and increase standardized test scores. Currently, at least six MI programs are widely available to teachers. The characteristics of these programs vary based on their degree of (a) academic focus, (b) teacher involvement, and (c) time commitment for planning and implementation. Despite the benefits of MI and the wide array of programs available, teachers rarely incorporate MI into their classrooms. Therefore, it is essential to understand which attributes of MI programs contribute to teachers? use of those programs and subsequently the incorporation of MI activities into their classrooms. Although some work to identify these attributes has been completed, these studies have either examined the use of MI as a general concept (i.e., what would make teachers more likely to infuse PA into their classroom routines) or was conducted within the context of a single MI program (i.e., what makes teachers more likely to implement a specific MI program). We believe that no one MI program provides all of the attributes that teachers are looking for in a classroom physical activity program. Thus, while teachers may like some attributes of one MI program, they may like different attributes of others. Understanding all salient attributes that teachers desire in MI programs will allow for the design of MI programs that teachers are more likely to use. The proposed study seeks to expand the evidence related to MI implementation by identifying teachers? preferred program attributes and developing a program based on those attributes. To do this we will draw upon product testing research techniques to test existing MI programs that are widely available and to identify which attributes of these MI programs make them more or less usable. We will accomplish the following specific aims:
Aim 1 (Y01): Identify the key attributes of MI programs that teachers prefer and do not prefer using a DCE and in-class product testing.
Aim 2 (Y 01/02): Develop a prototype Movement Integration product that incorporates the critical attributes identified by teachers in Aim 1.
Aim 3 (Y02): Conduct a pilot test of the prototype Movement Integration product developed in Aim 2 to evaluate teacher implementation, the product?s effect on children?s activity levels during classroom time, and cost. This project is significant because MI can provide additional opportunities for virtually all children to accumulate additional MVPA each day at school. The project is innovative because it will produce a novel MI program using product-testing techniques with classroom teachers. The expected project outcome is a novel MI program with the potential to be more widely implemented throughout the country.
Movement integration programs that incorporate physical activity into academics are widely available for teachers to use, and have been shown to provide meaningful amounts of physical activity, improve on-task behavior, enhance cognitive function, and increase standardized test scores of children. However, teachers rarely use these programs. This project aims to use product testing and development methodologies to test current movement integration programs, identify critical attributes of those programs that hinder or enhance uptake by teachers, and develop a novel movement integration program based on those attributes.
