Description:
Methods: Over a 13-week period participants (n=17) in the intervention group were regularly exposed to a passive prompt delivered through their desktop computer that required them to stand up and engage in a short-burst of physical activity, while the control group (n=17) was not exposed to this intervention. Instead, the control group continued with their normal work routine. All participants completed a pre- and post- intervention survey to estimate workplace daily energy expenditure (calories). Background: Desk-based employees face multiple workplace health hazards such as insufficient physical activity and prolonged sitting. Objective: The objective of this study was to increase workday energy expenditure by interrupting prolonged occupational sitting time and introducing short-bursts of physical activity to employees' daily work habits. Results: There was a significant 2 (Group) × 2 (Test) interaction, F (1, 32)=9.26, p < 0.05. The intervention group increased the calories expended during the workday from pre-test (M=866.29 ± 151.40) to post-test (M=1054.10 ± 393.24), whereas the control group decreased calories expended during the workday from pre-test (M=982.55 ± 315.66) to post-test (M=892.21 ± 255.36). Conclusions: An e-health intervention using a passive prompt was an effective mechanism for increasing employee work-related energy expenditure. Engaging employees in regular short-bursts of physical activity during the workday resulted in reduced sitting time, which may have long-term effects on the improvement of employee health.
Description:
Methods: Over a 13-week period participants (n=17) in the intervention group were regularly exposed to a passive prompt delivered through their desktop computer that required them to stand up and engage in a short-burst of physical activity, while the control group (n=17) was not exposed to this intervention. Instead, the control group continued with their normal work routine. All participants completed a pre- and post- intervention survey to estimate workplace daily energy expenditure (calories). Background: Desk-based employees face multiple workplace health hazards such as insufficient physical activity and prolonged sitting. Objective: The objective of this study was to increase workday energy expenditure by interrupting prolonged occupational sitting time and introducing short-bursts of physical activity to employees' daily work habits. Results: There was a significant 2 (Group) × 2 (Test) interaction, F (1, 32)=9.26, p < 0.05. The intervention group increased the calories expended during the workday from pre-test (M=866.29 ± 151.40) to post-test (M=1054.10 ± 393.24), whereas the control group decreased calories expended during the workday from pre-test (M=982.55 ± 315.66) to post-test (M=892.21 ± 255.36). Conclusions: An e-health intervention using a passive prompt was an effective mechanism for increasing employee work-related energy expenditure. Engaging employees in regular short-bursts of physical activity during the workday resulted in reduced sitting time, which may have long-term effects on the improvement of employee health.
Description:
Australian pre-service physical education (PE) teachers must be prepared for the reality of teaching in inclusive classrooms. Past studies have indicated that the amount of academic preparedness can affect pre-service PE teachers' intentions to successfully teach in inclusive settings. The current study measured these intentions in a sample of pre-service PE teachers from two different universities. This modified survey required participants to respond to two separate scenarios: one teaching inclusive PE to a student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and one to a student with autism. All participants completed an adapted PE unit with an embedded practicum of different lengths. Findings indicated that pre-service teachers' who experienced the larger adapted PE practicum had more favourable intentions towards teaching students with both disabilities compared to the other cohort. Implications of this research to improve Australian PE teacher training are discussed and recommendations are made.
Description:
Australian pre-service physical education (PE) teachers must be prepared for the reality of teaching in inclusive classrooms. Past studies have indicated that the amount of academic preparedness can affect pre-service PE teachers' intentions to successfully teach in inclusive settings. The current study measured these intentions in a sample of pre-service PE teachers from two different universities. This modified survey required participants to respond to two separate scenarios: one teaching inclusive PE to a student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and one to a student with autism. All participants completed an adapted PE unit with an embedded practicum of different lengths. Findings indicated that pre-service teachers' who experienced the larger adapted PE practicum had more favourable intentions towards teaching students with both disabilities compared to the other cohort. Implications of this research to improve Australian PE teacher training are discussed and recommendations are made.
Description:
OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the blood pressure (BP) effects of a yearlong e-health solution designed to interrupt prolonged occupational sitting time. METHODS:BP data of 228 desk-based employees (45.1 ± 10.5 years) were analyzed at baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. RESULTS:Systolic BP significantly reduced from baseline for the first 9 months (1.0 to 3.4 mmHg P < 0.01) while diastolic and mean arterial pressure decreased for the full 12-months (4 to 5 mmHg for diastolic pressure and 3.6 to 4.2 mmHg for MAP all P < 0.01).Participants used the e-health solution 5.5 ± 2.0 times/day in the first 3 months which reduced to 4.2 ± 2.5 times/day by the end of the study (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:An e-health solution designed to increase non-exercise physical activity by interrupting sitting time in the workplace is feasible and produced long-term reductions in blood pressure.
Description:
OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the blood pressure (BP) effects of a yearlong e-health solution designed to interrupt prolonged occupational sitting time. METHODS:BP data of 228 desk-based employees (45.1 ± 10.5 years) were analyzed at baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. RESULTS:Systolic BP significantly reduced from baseline for the first 9 months (1.0 to 3.4 mmHg P < 0.01) while diastolic and mean arterial pressure decreased for the full 12-months (4 to 5 mmHg for diastolic pressure and 3.6 to 4.2 mmHg for MAP all P < 0.01).Participants used the e-health solution 5.5 ± 2.0 times/day in the first 3 months which reduced to 4.2 ± 2.5 times/day by the end of the study (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:An e-health solution designed to increase non-exercise physical activity by interrupting sitting time in the workplace is feasible and produced long-term reductions in blood pressure.
Description:
Background: The advent of technology use in physical education is upon us. But the implications of using exergames as a substitute for traditional physical education instruction for some students raise questions. Although exergames have the potential to increase energy expenditure and motivation in some children, it is less clear whether they can provide skill acquisition benefits that are similar to those found in traditional physical education.Purpose: In a previous experiment from our laboratory, we found that deliberate practice can significantly reduce the planning time required for lateral arm movements. The purpose of this study was to determine if exergames can produce a similar effect, by reducing the processing time required for children to initiate arm movements to the contralateral and ipsilateral space.Participants and setting: Thirty children (boys=15, girls=15), between the ages of 7 and 12 years, participated in a pre- and post-test each taking 30min and one 30min treatment session in a university laboratory.Research design: A repeated measures design was employed to test the effects of deliberate laterality practice on processing speed. Children were randomly assigned (n=10) to either a Nintendo Wii tennis contralateral movement experimental group, Nintendo Wii bowling ipsilateral movement experimental group, or handheld video-game control group. Each child participated in one 30min treatment session.Data collection: Upper extremity choice reaction time (RT) was measured through 27 goal-directed aiming movements for each arm separately, during the pre-test and post-test. The stimulus-response trials occurred in three randomly presented directions (ipsilateral, contralateral, and midline).Data analysis: A 3 (treatment group)x2 (age group)x2 (test)x3 (direction) mixed design analysis of variance with repeated measures on the last two factors was used to test for significant differences, with an alpha level set at 0.05.Findings: There were no significant treatment effects on RT across all groups indicating that a short bout of exergame training was unsuccessful in improving lateral movement processing.Conclusions: Deliberate laterality practice using exergames did not improve the motor processing speed of lateral arm movements in the same manner of traditional physical education as indicated by our previous research. Explanations as to why exergames do not exhibit the same positive transfer for skill acquisition as traditional physical education instruction are discussed within this paper.
Description:
Background: The advent of technology use in physical education is upon us. But the implications of using exergames as a substitute for traditional physical education instruction for some students raise questions. Although exergames have the potential to increase energy expenditure and motivation in some children, it is less clear whether they can provide skill acquisition benefits that are similar to those found in traditional physical education.Purpose: In a previous experiment from our laboratory, we found that deliberate practice can significantly reduce the planning time required for lateral arm movements. The purpose of this study was to determine if exergames can produce a similar effect, by reducing the processing time required for children to initiate arm movements to the contralateral and ipsilateral space.Participants and setting: Thirty children (boys=15, girls=15), between the ages of 7 and 12 years, participated in a pre- and post-test each taking 30min and one 30min treatment session in a university laboratory.Research design: A repeated measures design was employed to test the effects of deliberate laterality practice on processing speed. Children were randomly assigned (n=10) to either a Nintendo Wii tennis contralateral movement experimental group, Nintendo Wii bowling ipsilateral movement experimental group, or handheld video-game control group. Each child participated in one 30min treatment session.Data collection: Upper extremity choice reaction time (RT) was measured through 27 goal-directed aiming movements for each arm separately, during the pre-test and post-test. The stimulus-response trials occurred in three randomly presented directions (ipsilateral, contralateral, and midline).Data analysis: A 3 (treatment group)x2 (age group)x2 (test)x3 (direction) mixed design analysis of variance with repeated measures on the last two factors was used to test for significant differences, with an alpha level set at 0.05.Findings: There were no significant treatment effects on RT across all groups indicating that a short bout of exergame training was unsuccessful in improving lateral movement processing.Conclusions: Deliberate laterality practice using exergames did not improve the motor processing speed of lateral arm movements in the same manner of traditional physical education as indicated by our previous research. Explanations as to why exergames do not exhibit the same positive transfer for skill acquisition as traditional physical education instruction are discussed within this paper.
Description:
Prolonged occupational sitting time (POST) is a silent killer for even the healthiest of working adults. Currently, an office-based worker spends an average of 80,000 hours sitting during the course of their working life. Recent data suggests that POST of four hours or more is a health risk for all desk-based employees. Exposure to this hazard increases the risk of suffering from diseases related to increased morbidity and mortality. Moreover, a worker's increased level of fitness may only ameliorate some of the risk. That is, even workers with high levels of physical fitness may still be at risk if they sit for more than four hours per day. Research from the Baker IDI institute showed an association between POST and increases in waist girth, weight, body mass index and negative blood lipid profiles (i.e., blood glucose, lipoprotein lipase [LPL]), irrespective of current fitness level.
Description:
In Australia, the teaching profession is faced with the prospect that teacher education is no longer a popular choice among young people. This is problematic as the teaching workforce is at an average age of 43.4 years, with the proportion of teachers aged 50 or above at 39 per cent. Thus for the profession, retention of teacher candidates in ITE programs is critical to ensuring sustainability. At present retention rates in ITE programmes from year 1 to 2 ranges from 67 to 83 per cent. More alarming are graduate attrition rates of 30-40 per cent within the first five years. The literature draws attention to notion that retention to a profession has to extend beyond assessment of candidates’ competency against a range of set standards. In particular, data from other professions indicate that quality of a professional induction received by newcomer professions is predictive of retention and perceptions of success. This presentation will report on the development of a theme based WIL placement designed to provide a professional induction for teacher candidates as a means of increasing their perceptions of satisfaction with their WIL experiences and decreasing their intention to quit.
Description:
The purpose of this study was to test the effect of a brief telephone intervention based on the principles of motivational interviewing to reduce pre-treatment attrition in an Australian cardiac rehabilitation centre. The study was an intact comparison randomly trial. Twenty-eight adult patients diagnosed with symptoms associated with cardio-vascular disease, who were noncompliant to an initial appointment, were randomized to receive either a standard cue call or a motivational interview-based recruitment call. Compliance was measured as attendance at a booked session at the cardiac rehabilitation center. Results showed that patients who received a motivational based telephone call had 6 times the odds as those who received a standard cue telephone call for attending a booked appointment. Reducing pre-treatment attrition from cardio-vascular rehabilitation centers can be accomplished with a brief telephone intervention, which incorporates the spirit of motivational interviewing.
Description:
The purpose of this study was to test the effect of a brief telephone intervention based on the principles of motivational interviewing to reduce pre-treatment attrition in an Australian cardiac rehabilitation centre. The study was an intact comparison randomly trial. Twenty-eight adult patients diagnosed with symptoms associated with cardio-vascular disease, who were noncompliant to an initial appointment, were randomized to receive either a standard cue call or a motivational interview-based recruitment call. Compliance was measured as attendance at a booked session at the cardiac rehabilitation center. Results showed that patients who received a motivational based telephone call had 6 times the odds as those who received a standard cue telephone call for attending a booked appointment. Reducing pre-treatment attrition from cardio-vascular rehabilitation centers can be accomplished with a brief telephone intervention, which incorporates the spirit of motivational interviewing.
Description:
The current expectation of teachers in Australia is that they are able to collect, interpret, and use data related to teaching and learning. Digital technologies in schools, such as electronic methods of record-keeping, offer enhanced opportunities for teachers to perform this skill, and its application has been growing steadily in education. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine fourth-year pre-service teachers’ behaviour in record-keeping whilst on their final professional experience placement. Using Ajzen’s (1992) theory of planned behavior, this study found that most pre-service teachers exhibited positive attitudes toward the behaviour of recording, using, and analysing classroom data. Despite this positive attitude, many pre-service teachers were unable to maintain any system of record-keeping whilst on placement. For many, this was due to a number of external influences or perceived external influences, which acted as a constraint to their behaviour.
Description:
The current expectation of teachers in Australia is that they are able to collect, interpret, and use data related to teaching and learning. Digital technologies in schools, such as electronic methods of record-keeping, offer enhanced opportunities for teachers to perform this skill, and its application has been growing steadily in education. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine fourth-year pre-service teachers’ behaviour in record-keeping whilst on their final professional experience placement. Using Ajzen’s (1992) theory of planned behavior, this study found that most pre-service teachers exhibited positive attitudes toward the behaviour of recording, using, and analysing classroom data. Despite this positive attitude, many pre-service teachers were unable to maintain any system of record-keeping whilst on placement. For many, this was due to a number of external influences or perceived external influences, which acted as a constraint to their behaviour.
Is self-reporting workplace activity worthwhile? Validity and reliability of Occupational Sitting and Physical Activity Questionnaire in desk-based workers BMC Public Health
Description:
Background: Accelerometers can obtain precise measurements of movements during the day. However, the individual activity pattern varies from day-to-day and there is limited evidence on measurement days needed to obtain sufficient reliability. The aim of this study was to examine variability in accelerometer derived data on sedentary behaviour and physical activity at work and in leisure-time during week days among Danish office employees. Methods: We included control participants (n = 135) from the Take a Stand! Intervention; a cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in 19 offices. Sitting time and physical activity were measured using an ActiGraph GT3X+ fixed on the thigh and data were processed using Acti4 software. Variability was examined for sitting time, standing time, steps and time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day by multilevel mixed linear regression modelling. Results: Results of this study showed that the number of days needed to obtain a reliability of 80% when measuring sitting time was 4.7 days for work and 5.5 days for leisure time. For physical activity at work, 4.0 days and 4.2 days were required to measure steps and MVPA, respectively. During leisure time, more monitoring time was needed to reliably estimate physical activity (6.8 days for steps and 5.8 days for MVPA). Conclusions: The number of measurement days needed to reliably estimate activity patterns was greater for leisure time than for work time. The domain specific variability is of great importance to researchers and health promotion workers planning to use objective measures of sedentary behaviour and physical activity.
Description:
Background: Accelerometers can obtain precise measurements of movements during the day. However, the individual activity pattern varies from day-to-day and there is limited evidence on measurement days needed to obtain sufficient reliability. The aim of this study was to examine variability in accelerometer derived data on sedentary behaviour and physical activity at work and in leisure-time during week days among Danish office employees. Methods: We included control participants (n = 135) from the Take a Stand! Intervention; a cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in 19 offices. Sitting time and physical activity were measured using an ActiGraph GT3X+ fixed on the thigh and data were processed using Acti4 software. Variability was examined for sitting time, standing time, steps and time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day by multilevel mixed linear regression modelling. Results: Results of this study showed that the number of days needed to obtain a reliability of 80% when measuring sitting time was 4.7 days for work and 5.5 days for leisure time. For physical activity at work, 4.0 days and 4.2 days were required to measure steps and MVPA, respectively. During leisure time, more monitoring time was needed to reliably estimate physical activity (6.8 days for steps and 5.8 days for MVPA). Conclusions: The number of measurement days needed to reliably estimate activity patterns was greater for leisure time than for work time. The domain specific variability is of great importance to researchers and health promotion workers planning to use objective measures of sedentary behaviour and physical activity.
Description:
Abstract: Inclusion of students with disabilities (SwD) in Australian health and physical education (HPE) classes is on the rise. Reasonable adjustment to assist inclusive practice is often accomplished through the use of teaching assistants, or paraprofessionals. While this practice is commonly understood within the classroom, this approach remains obscure in the HPE setting. The purpose of this study was to explore how Australian HPE teachers utilise paraprofessionals when teaching SwD in inclusive environments. HPE teachers (N=14) completed an online questionnaire inquiring how paraprofessionals are being used and the strategies they are using to develop working relationships with paraprofessionals. The HPE teachers in our sample generally had a favourable attitudes towards the paraprofessionals they have worked with, however a lack of appropriate training and HPE curriculum knowledge were highlighted as deficient areas that may have an adverse effect on the overall HPE environment. Strategies to foster this collaborative working relationship were also investigated, and the primary finding dealt with adequate reciprocal communication.
Description:
Abstract: Inclusion of students with disabilities (SwD) in Australian health and physical education (HPE) classes is on the rise. Reasonable adjustment to assist inclusive practice is often accomplished through the use of teaching assistants, or paraprofessionals. While this practice is commonly understood within the classroom, this approach remains obscure in the HPE setting. The purpose of this study was to explore how Australian HPE teachers utilise paraprofessionals when teaching SwD in inclusive environments. HPE teachers (N=14) completed an online questionnaire inquiring how paraprofessionals are being used and the strategies they are using to develop working relationships with paraprofessionals. The HPE teachers in our sample generally had a favourable attitudes towards the paraprofessionals they have worked with, however a lack of appropriate training and HPE curriculum knowledge were highlighted as deficient areas that may have an adverse effect on the overall HPE environment. Strategies to foster this collaborative working relationship were also investigated, and the primary finding dealt with adequate reciprocal communication.