With prevalence rates of obesity among children and adolescents steadily rising, childhood obesity and overweight has become a public health concern. Publically funded elementary schools are in a unique position to provide children with opportunities regarding the promotion of physical activity and healthy nutritional behaviors. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct exploratory research to investigate the dietary habits of elementary school students enrolled in four Hillsborough County Out-of-School Time (HOST) care programs. Methods: The study utilized a quantitative, non-experimental study design. The instruments that were used in this research included a new questionnaire that was titled “All about You Yesterday”. This paper questionnaire was a combination of questions from the Physical Questionnaire for Older Children, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, and Day in The Life Of Questionnaire. The questionnaire gathered information about what the students had eaten the day before. It also allowed for collection of students’ gender, age, and grade level, physical activity levels, and the amount of time they spent being sedentary. Dietary data collected from the questionnaire was inputted into the ASA-24-Kids program for calculating Healthy Eating Index scores. Scores were examined to categorize the children’s diets as: poor, needs improvement, and good. This data was plotted into SAS to determine if there were patterns. The relationships between dietary and demographic factors were analyzed. A logistic regression model was used to test the association between dietary scores and amount of physical activity. Results: A total of 91 students participated in this study. The average score was categorized as needs improvement, as were the majority of the students’ diets. The findings showed a pattern that diets improved from third to fourth grade and declined in fifth grade. More males had diets that were categorized as needs improvement rather than poor, and site C had the most students with diet in the needs improvement category. However, none of the covariates were significant. The models used to test the association between the HEI scores and the amount of physical activity produced large p- values (> 0.05), which indicates weak evidence against the null hypothesis that states that there is no association. The same was true for the association between sedentary levels and the HEI categories. Conclusions: The study showed that, regardless of having the opportunity to eat nutritious meals, a great number of after-school children had diets that were categorized as poor. Findings also showed that there was no association between diet and the amount of physical activity that the after-school children participated in; nor did the diets have an association with the sedentary levels reported. Recommendations: In an effort to improve the diets of elementary school children, schools should encourage their students to try fruits and vegetables that are being offered through taste tests. If the meals that are offered during the taste tests are enjoyed then they should be offered as part of the school’s lunch or snack. After school programs should also offer these taste tests and include short nutritional lessons into their programs where children are also given the opportunity to cook and eat healthy snacks.

The ongoing advancement of science and technology is creating an increasing need for more entrants into science oriented careers. However, numerous studies have fueled growing concerns regarding the poor achievement of learners in science. Over the years, science education researchers have emphasized the importance of the affective domain of learning as a central component of strategies used to address learners’ lack of interest and poor achievement in science. In the literature, the affective domain is characterized by constructs such as disposition, attitude, interest, and motivation. Studies showing a correlation between the affective domain and academic achievement suggest that nurturing a positive disposition towards science is an antecedent to learners’ improved science achievement and entering science fields. This study focuses on the ‘disposition’ aspect of the affective domain, and follows in the path of earlier studies which use the term interchangeably with ‘attitude’. Learners’ experiences in a particular science education environment influence the development of a positive or negative disposition towards science. However, there is a need to explore the factors in the learning environments which influence learners’ disposition towards science. Previous studies have shown that the informal science environment may influence learners’ disposition towards science. One example of an informal science environment is the Khanya Maths and Science Club, which is an after-school science and mathematics enrichment programme in Grahamstown, South Africa. This study explores the influence of learners’ participation in an informal science education environment on their dispositions towards science, using the case of the Khanya Maths and Science Club. This study views disposition through the constructivist-developmental lens. The community of practice elements from situated learning theory is drawn on to explore how learners’ disposition can be influenced by their interactions in the context of the Khanya Maths and Science Club. The pragmatic paradigm is adopted, which considers how well the research tools work to provide answers to the research questions. This thus, provides an avenue for exploring how learners’ disposition towards science is influenced and what factors influenced their shift in disposition through their participation in the club. A mixed-methods approach is employed when focusing on the affective domain sub-constructs of: enjoyment of science, interest in science and perception of science. These are sub-scales in the test of science related attitude (TOSRA) questionnaire which was adapted for use in measuring learners’ attitude before and after 16 weeks of participating in the science club. The particular mixed-methods approach selected can be summarized as quan QUAL since the method is primarily qualitative, but sequential with the quantitative phase preceding the qualitative phase. The TOSRA questionnaire was used as the quantitative data collection instrument while semi-structured interviews and learners’ journal entries were the qualitative data collection instruments. The results revealed significant shifts in learners’ perception of, interest in science and enjoyment of science though interest in science and enjoyment of science shifted appreciably in a positive direction more than the perception of science. It was also found that learners’ attitude towards science was influenced by; instructional characteristics, facilitators/environmental characteristics, learners making connection between science and everyday life and learners’ perceived difficulty of science. These factors variably influenced their attitude towards science in the club, corroborating what had been found in similar studies. This study corroborates what the literature offers for achieving effective outcomes in Afterschool science enrichment programmes. It contributes to the growing body of literature on features for quality outcomes in Afterschool science enrichment programmes. This study also makes a theoretical contribution to science education research particularly with regard to how the emergence of a community of practice framework in the club activities provide useful information for planning club activities and the analysis of learners’ evolving disposition towards science. Key words: Khanya Maths and Science Club, disposition, attitude, after-school enrichment programmes, constructivist-developmental approach, situated learning theory, community of practice, Test of Science Related Attitude (TOSRA).

The present study aimed to assess the current affordances for physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) in after-school child care. The primary purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable online survey to assess the affordance of PA and HE in Canadian after-school childcare settings. A two-stage instrument validation procedure was implemented. Stage 1 was an instrument review (n=5) to create the Canadian Healthy After School Environments (CHASE) survey and an expert review (n=7) to establish logical validity of its items and components. Stage 2 was a comparison of the self-administered CHASE survey with existing observation tools to establish concurrent validity and test retest to establish its reliability in 20 after-school child care programs on Vancouver Island (n=20). Observation tools included the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO), an audit of the facility environment, staff behaviours, and snacks and activities observed, and the Physical Activity Observation Recording Sheet (PAORS), a scan of the physical activity intensity and facilitation of each child during each minute of activity. Pearson correlations were calculated for subscales and items on CHASE, EPAO and PAORS to establish validity. Percent agreement and intra-class correlations (ICCs) between CHASE T1 and T2 scores were calculated to establish reliability. The results indicated that CHASE T1 Social HE Environment subscale significantly correlated with 5 objective measures: EPAO-measured proportion of time in PA (r=0.715, p<.001); total PA minutes (r=0.680, p=.001); total outdoor PA (r=0.521, p=.018); total sedentary behaviour (r=-0.580, p=.009); and PAORS-measured total PA minutes (r=0.631, p=.003). CHASE T1 HE Total subscale also significantly correlated with these objective measures: EPAO-measured proportion of time in PA (r=0.450, p=.047); total PA minutes (r=0.565, p=.009); total outdoor PA (r=0.517, p=.020); total sedentary behaviour (r=-0.577, p=.010); and PAORS-measured total PA minutes (r=0.514, p=.020). Other significant correlations were found between EPAO total outdoor PA and CHASE T1 Physical HE Environment subscale (r=0.501, p=.024), as well as EPAO total minutes of television and CHASE T1 PA Practices subscale (r=-0.459, p=.042). Other CHASE subscales were not significantly correlated with objective PA measures. Significant correlations between CHASE and EPAO subscales were found for Social PA Environment (r=0.664, p=.001) and HE Total (r=0.553, p=.040). The remaining correlations between CHASE and EPAO subscales were not significant. ICCs indicated strong reliability for all CHASE subscales, excluding Social PA Environment, Social HE Environment, PA Practices. ICCs indicated strong reliability for all CHASE sections, excluding HE Environment and Policies. Average percent agreement calculations indicated high reliability for CHASE Environment Total (Mean=84.42, SD=7.02), PA Total (Mean=75.43, SD=10.29), HE Total (Mean=83.70, SD=3.42) and Overall Total section scores (Mean= 81.18, SD=5.56). The CHASE survey has the potential to increase the feasibility of assessing the physical activity and healthy eating environment in after-school child-care programs in many sites across Canada. These findings highlight that it is reliable and that some of the subscales and items have concurrent validity. More work has to be done to explore why certain subscales and items lacked validity and to compare CHASE to directly measured physical activity using accelerometers. / Graduate / 0573 / 0570 / 0680 / toshalobsinger@me.com

Master of Public Health / Public Health Interdepartmental Program; Kinesiology / David A. Dzewaltowski / After-school programs are considered to have great potential to provide opportunities for increasing physical activity. One factor that may influence the success of a physical activity intervention is program implementation. The purpose of this study is to understand factors that influence implementation of a 30 minutes structured physical activity session in an after-school program. After-school staff (organizational leaders, site program managers and fourth grade group leaders), from four after-school sites attended three trainings over the academic year and were given the goal to implement 30 minutes of daily structured after-school physical activity to fourth grade children following CATCH guidelines. At the end of the year two organizational leaders (mean age = 55.0), four program managers (mean age = 27.3), and 13 group leaders (mean age = 21.3) were interviewed (N = 19) and completed a survey. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using QSR NVivo software. Several factors influencing implementation were revealed. First, program managers and group leaders believed that they were successful in leading structured physical activity. However, their definition of success was less than the evidence-based protocol that required structured physical activity five days a week for 30 minutes. Staff believed that increasing the amount of unstructured activity offered and offering structured physical activity three days a week met the standard. Second, structured physical activity was not implemented as intended due to several organizational and staff barriers. The organizational barriers included: prioritizing physical activity, lack school administration support, lack program manager support, high group leader turnover, and low training attendance. The staff barriers included: low group leader motivation, and providing children with enjoyable CATCH games. Third, implementation of structured physical activity was facilitated by several organizational and staff variables. These facilitators included equipment/gym space, training, scheduling structured physical activity, support from the organizational leaders, and program manager and group leader self-efficacy. The final factor influencing program implementation was the use of individual strategies by program managers and group leaders. These individual strategies included restructuring the after-school program, obtaining physical education teacher support, and participating with the children in structured physical activity. Findings from this study suggest that the success of the after-school intervention is dependent on many factors, including several organizational system variables, as well as several staff variables. Program managers and group leaders negotiated these organizational and staff barriers and believed that they were successful in leading structured physical activity. However, their definition of success was less than the evidence-based protocol that required structured physical activity five days a week for 30 minutes. They defined successful implementation as increasing the amount of structured and unstructured physical activity daily. Future research should examine if targeting the organizational and staff variables identified in this study leads to greater program implementation.

This study launches a program of research that targets the unmet mental health needs of children living in urban poverty by infusing evidence-based practices and mental health promotion into peer-mediated recreational activities delivered in community-based after-school programs (ASP). We examined the feasibility and promise of a Peer-Assisted Social Learning (PASL) model to promote social competence among low-income, minority youth. In collaboration with our community partner, we developed and implemented a series of 21 recreational activities designed to generate natural opportunities for peer-facilitated problem solving. Socially skilled children were identified by ASP staff and paired with less-skilled peers to maximize opportunities for social learning and minimize the demands placed on staff. Thirty children at an Experimental site participated in PASL activities, while 31 children at a Comparison ASP participated in recreation-as-usual activities. Five Experimental staff received training and participated in 10 weekly supervision meetings to support PASL implementation. Feasibility was assessed using measures of child and staff attendance, participation, and engagement in PASL, as well as staff adherence to and competence with implementation. Promise was assessed pre- and post-PASL, using measures including staff-reported social skills, children’s problem-solving strategies, and peer reported social standing (i.e., likability ratings, peer nominations, and social network mapping). Strong evidence emerged for fidelity of implementation (adherence, competence) and broader feasibility (attendance, participation, enthusiasm). Promise effects were mixed; children who participated in PASL demonstrated improvements in problem behavior and social skills, but also exhibited increased reliance on aggressive strategies to solve problems and some declines in peer-reported social standing. Implications related to the capacity of ASPs to incorporate evidence-based practices for mental health promotion into natural routines are discussed.

The purpose of this study employing meta-analysis was to assess the impact that after-school programs have on reading and mathematics outcomes. The participants in the primary studies were students in Grades K through 8; years 200 through 2009. The study utilized the theory of change as its theoretical basis. This meta-analysis used the effect size as the standard measure. It began with an overall Cohen's d of .40 for the impact that after-school programs have on reading and mathematics outcomes, and then proceeded to analyze three moderator variables: subject, time periods, and grade level.The findings of the meta-analysis, both overall and sub analyses, show that the independent variable, after-school programs, has an impact on the dependent variable, reading and mathematics. The overall results indicated that after-school programs are educationally significant in the areas of reading and mathematics combined. As for the moderator variable, the results for the areas of (a) subject (reading and mathematics), (b) time period (2000-2002, 2003-2005 and 2006-2009), and (c) grade (middle, and middle plus elementary combined), all indicated educationally significant results. The notable exception was the grade moderator, elementary.This study provides more information for researchers, practitioners and policy makers upon which to make practical research based decisions about after-school programs for the purpose of determining the applicability of such in their educational setting.

Young people learn about and interact with health and fitness through multiple pedagogical sites, including after-school programs, print and social media, fitness centers, families and peers. As such, the purpose of this dissertation was to explore the ways in which Black and Latinx youth interacted with health and fitness in an urban after-school context. To do so, a visual ethnographic approach was used over 18-months, working with youth in different ways over that time period. Data generation methods included participant observation (field notes, informal conversations), semi-structured interviews, participant-driven visual diaries and a scrapbooking project. Data analysis involved various inquiry techniques such as thinking through (affect) theory, Maggie MacLure’s interpretation of coding, and collage as analysis. Affect theory, from a new materialist and feminist lens, framed this dissertation. Using these theoretical and methodological approaches, I share three manuscripts that highlight affective flows produced at different points in the dissertation research. These involve (1) a focus on beginning to experiment with visual methods and five youth; (2) a pedagogical encounter between four youth, two fitness professionals and myself; and (3) a collage-as-analysis that held potential to de-territorialize research practices as usual. Through these manuscripts, I argue that this dissertation begins to create (non-traditional) ways to reimagine health and fitness so that all bodies (Black/Latinx youth and fitness professionals, White woman researcher, images, texts, words) come to matter for research and pedagogical practices with high school-aged youth in an urban after-school context.

The purpose of our study has been to see how communication is used and how messages to students are conveyed at the after-school center. We observed at two different schools located in the Stockholm area and supplemented with interviews. We wanted to get an idea of how the educators at the after-school center use communication and how they themselves consider how they use communication. We also asked about the relationships that the educators have with the students and colleagues during the interviews as we believe it can make communication more difficult if you don’t have a relationship with those you want to get a message to. To achieve a result, we used different communication models and communication theories when we made our observations and interviews. We also used previous research about communication and relationship with children. Our results show how the educators used the communication in a glancingly and stressful way. The results also show that it is the non-verbal communication that is mostly used in these transient communicative situations. The educators experienced that it is hard to make time to communicate in a good way and make relationships with the students because of time constraints. Something that our observations contradicted since there were times where the educators only stood still or was “guarding” the students. / Syftet med vår undersökning har varit att undersöka hur kommunikation används och hur budskap till eleverna förmedlas i fritidshemmet. Vi har genomfört observationer av pedagoger på två olika skolor belägna i Stockholmsområdet och även kompletterat med intervjuer. Vi ville få kunskap om hur pedagogerna i fritidshemmet använder kommunikation och hur de själva anser sig använda kommunikation i den dagliga verksamheten i fritidshemmet. I intervjuerna frågade vi även om relationerna som pedagogerna hade till elever och kollegor, vilket vi anser kan försvåra kommunikationen om inte en relation finns till de som budskapet ska nå fram till. För att nå ett resultat utgick vi under observationer och intervjuer från olika kommunikationsmodeller och kommunikationsteorier. Vi använde även tidigare forskning om kommunikation och relationer med barn. Resultatet visar hur pedagogerna använde sig av kommunikation på ett flyktigt och stressigt sätt. Resultaten visar även att det oftast var den icke-verbala kommunikationen som pedagogerna använde i de flyktiga kommunikationssituationerna. Pedagogerna upplevde att det är svårt att hinna kommunicera på ett effektivt sätt och skapa relationer med eleverna på grund av att det saknas tid till det. Det motsäger dock våra observationer, det fanns tid men pedagogerna använde den till att vara stillastående eller ”vaktade” elever.

The purpose of this independent work is to highlight how important it is to work with pupils' social knowledge in school. The work also aims to investigate how educators can help acting out pupils in the social interaction. They need to respond to the pupils in the game, but also take a step back when they notice that pupils are starting to change their old behavior. The method on which the work is based is scientific essay writing. The work is based on an experience taken from my reality as an educator at the after-school programme. The incident made me think about a pupil's behavior and my actions towards the pupil. Some of the selected theories and concepts I have used are differentiation competence, communities of practice, life world phenomenology and bioecological system theory. The concepts explain how educators can work with relationship building in school, in order to best meet and understand the pupils. An important idea based on the theories is that pupils are shaped by their encounters with others both at home and at school. That is why it becomes important to pay attention when difficulties arise and help pupils, both individually and collectively. My text ends with me highlighting the most important insights I gained during the work. I have broadened my perspective on the experience. I got time to reflect on my actions and how I would have acted if my and Jacks relationship had been deeper. The work has raised thoughtson how I and other educators should work to help pupils cope with the social interaction independent of the adults. / Syftet med detta självständiga arbete är att belysa hur viktigt det är att arbeta med elevernas sociala kunskaper i skolan. Arbetet syftar också till att undersöka hur pedagogerna kan hjälpa utåtagerande elever i det sociala samspelet. De behöver bemöta eleverna i leken men också taett steg tillbaka när de märker att eleverna börjar förändra sitt gamla beteende. Metoden som ligger till grund för arbetet är vetenskapligt essä skrivande. Arbetet utgår från en erfarenhettagen från min verklighet som pedagog på fritidshemmet. Händelsen fick mig att fundera överen elevs beteende och mitt agerande gentemot eleven. Några av de utvalda teorier ochbegrepp jag har använt är differentierings kompetens, praktikgemenskaper, livsvärlds fenomenlogin och den bioekologiska systemteorin. Begreppen förklarar hur pedagoger kan arbeta med relationsskapande i skolan med olika metoder, för att på bästa sätt bemöta och förstå eleverna. En viktig tanke utifrån teorierna är att eleverna formas av möten med andra både i hemmet och i skolan. Därför blir det viktigt att uppmärksamma när svårigheter uppstår och hjälpa eleverna, både individuellt och kollektivt. Min text avslutas med att jag lyfter de viktigaste insikterna jag fått under arbetet. Jag har vidgat mina perspektiv på händelsen. Jag har fått tid att reflektera kring mitt agerande och hur jag hade agerat om min och Jacks relation varit djupare. Arbetet har väckt tankar kring hur jag och andra pedagoger bör arbeta för att hjälpa eleverna att klara av att hantera det sociala samspelet oberoende av de vuxna.

Title: Use of Jr. NBA League programme for the Czech basketball Objectives: The main goal of the thesis is to completely analyze all four seasons of Jr.NBA in Czech Republic and to suggest specific recommendations for organizers. Methods: To achieve the goal of the thesis there were used methods such as primary external data analysis, in-depth interview, online survey, participant observation and SWOT analysis Results: Aspects of communication of the organizational matters and organization of Draft and The Finals are among the strengths of the programme. Weaknesses such as the number of schools and high competitive game requirements for schools participating in the programme are found to be severe. The biggest opportunity of the project is in getting bigger and more intense cooperation of clubs both within the project and in a way of approaching more kids for their youth programmes or after-school activities. Sport events which will be taking place next year or years after can be significantly used for promotion of the project and Czech basketball as well. Possibly the next waves of global pandemic or some other consequences related to Mother Nature can be considered for real threats.