title: Is in-class physical activity at risk in constructivist physical education?
abstract: Constructivist physical education emphasizes cognitive engagement. This study examined the impact of a constructivist curriculum on in-class physical activity. Caloric expenditure in metabolic equivalents (MET) and vector magnitude count (VM) data from a random sample of 41 constructivist lessons were compared with those from a random sample of 35 nonconstructivist lessons. Statistical analyses revealed that students in both curriculum conditions were active at a similarly low-moderate level (MET = 2.6 for experimental, 2.5 for comparison, p = .30). Differences (p < .05) were found between the three units within the constructivist curriculum. The findings suggest that the constructivist approach may facilitate knowledge learning with little risk of reducing in-class physical activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA. angchen@umd.edu
authors.forename: Ang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Haichun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Catherine D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Ennis
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003479:Curriculum; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007342:Insurance Benefits; D008297:Male; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012574:Schools