The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effects
of an interdependent group-oriented contingency on the MVPA
levels of middle school students during the fitness portion of physical
education lessons. Participants were randomly selected target
students from three intact eighth grade classes.
A combination of a delayed multiple baseline and changing
criterion design was implemented to determine the effects of the
intervention on students' MVPA levels (dependent variable). MVPA
levels were measured using momentary time sampling with
definitions from the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time.
The independent variable consisted of an interdependent group-oriented
contingency program. When target students reached a
physical activity level criterion, for a specified number of days, the
whole group was rewarded with a choice of activities.
Inter-observer agreement, using the scored-interval method
(during 20% of the lessons), for students' MVPA levels was 95%
(range 91-100%) and 86% (range 74-94%) for the teacher's
instructional behaviors. Visual analysis of graphic data was used to
demonstrate the functional relationship between the intervention
and MVPA levels. The overlap of data points, mean level changes,
trends, variability within and between conditions, and number of
days that the criteria were attained by the target students were used
to establish the experimental effects.
A higher level of student MVPA was demonstrated in all
classes, during all three units when the initial criterion level of the
intervention was implemented. During the second level of
intervention, higher MVPA levels were demonstrated in one of three
units. Across all three units, when the intervention was in effect,
target students attained the MVPA criteria 21 of the 27 days (78%).
Post-checks, conducted three weeks after the withdrawal of the
contingency program, revealed that MVPA levels decreased slightly
while remaining above the level observed during baseline. / Graduation date: 1998
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/33759 |
| Date | 15 September 1997 |
| Creators | Schuldheisz, Joel M. |
| Contributors | Mars, Hans van der |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0019 seconds