Dissertation

Physical Activity Levels and Time-on-Task in Maltese Under 13 Football Nurseries.

Abstract

Several studies have focused on the quality of physical education (PE) lessons and the time students are on task during these lessons; it is seen that they are engaged in less than 50% of the time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). However, few studies have dealt with activity levels, time-on-task and the delivery of sessions in sport clubs, and studies in Malta were limited to PE settings. This study examines how time is spent during Under 13 football training sessions in Malta using the Academic Learning Time-Physical Education (ALT-PE) tool and observations. It also analyses the different physical activity intensities which children are exposed to, particularly MVPA through the utilisation of accelerometers. The coaches’ views regarding these factors were investigated through interviews. Five nurseries, one from each district in Malta, were randomly chosen through multi-stage sampling. One hundred and eight children participated in this research project. Ten observations (two in each of the five nurseries) were carried out during training sessions and five interviews were conducted with coaches (one from each nursery). Results show that on average children spent around 45 minutes in MVPA. Through the use of ALT-PE, 33% was recorded as activity time and 35% as waiting time. The majority of the interviewed coaches did not know of any tools which measure time-on-task and physical activity. It is recommended that coaches use tools to measure time-on-task and physical activity levels to enable them to monitor the training sessions' adequacy and that ongoing professional development would target improvement in session planning and delivery.

Main Results

This study helped us in understanding better what happens in a training session, the amount of time students are active, the intensity at which they train and why children are not reaching the daily 60 minutes of MVPA as recommended by various important organisations around the world. The main results obtained from this research project were the following:

An average of 44 minutes and 51 seconds were spent in MVPA, that is 42.3% of the whole session Five of the 108 children in this study (4.6%) were active for an hour or more of MVPA during the ninety minute session. Additionally, ten other children achieved more than fifty five minutes of MVPA. Furthermore, an average of 41 minutes and 38 seconds was spent in light physical activity that is 34.8% of the whole session. A total mean of 6297.9 steps were done per training session, for an average of 53.8 steps per minute.
From the thirty five minutes observed through the use of ALT-PE, children spent 11 minutes and 33 seconds that is 33.0% of the session in activity time, less than two minutes in transition time that is 4.7% of the session and almost four minutes in management that is 10.6%. Knowledge time amounted to almost six minutes that is 16.8% of the session. Moreover children spent 12 minutes and 15 seconds in waiting time that is 35% of the whole session and only a few seconds off task (0.2%).
The interviews conducted with the five coaches provided very interesting and valuable information. Most of the coaches mentioned several important factors which are line with this study and mentioned other things which can help improve local football at youth level. The main factors which affected time on task according to the coaches were the way instructional time was handled, space issues, water breaks, waiting lines, planning and preparation, transition within the session, coaches’ voice projection, children’s behaviour and commitment, how equipment is implemented and adequate facilities.
Finally, is sport on its own enough? On average, it can be concluded that sport alone is not enough to reach the daily one hour MVPA guideline since children engage in an average of 44 minutes and 51 seconds in the football training session, however it is contributing considerably.

Why did I choose to do the submitted project?

First of all, I always wanted to carry out my dissertation on sports due to my extensive interest and love for the sports background. When I had to select a topic for my dissertation I immediately chose sports and physical activity. When discussing it with the tutor, my dissertation partner and I decided to focus our thesis on different physical activities and time on task in football nurseries based in Malta. We both agreed that through these topics we were able to explore various areas which we are interested in. In fact, to date there have been no local studies on this particular topic apart from the class situation in schools. Thus we wanted that our study fills this gap.

What were the main things that I learnt while carrying out the project?

The dissertation helped me learn various things in due course, such as:

What should/should not be done in order to set up an effective coaching session or lesson.
Ways of how to encourage children train at high physical intensity levels.
Factors influencing time on task such as instructional time.
How to utilize accelerometers to gather data.
How to carry out the Academic Learning Time in Physical Education (ALT-PE) tool.
How to conduct a proper interview.
How to read the recorded data.

How did the project contribute to my learning and professional development?

Carrying out this project helped me in bettering my overall organisational, teamwork, administrative and communication skills. Moreover I also continued to embrace the importance of several factors when teaching or coaching during the observations and interviews which were conducted during this study such as the importance of keeping students motivated and interested through different, innovative and fun exercises. One of the most crucial factors when delivering a lesson was that children were given time to answer questions the teacher or coach put forward and to ask any queries they might have had regarding certain tactics, techniques and rules. In addition, I also continued to notice the necessity of keeping explanations concise, straight to the point and support them with demonstrations. Through the use of explanations and demonstrations one would be making sure to help both auditory and visual learners. Finally, this also helped me to comprehend and get to know how to increase time on task and promote the utilisation of diverse physical activity intensities during lessons and training sessions. This dissertation was surely very useful and valuable for my learning and professional development. All in all, it helped me to develop the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to perform effectively as a Physical Education teacher.