Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2006

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

EdD

College

College of Education and Human Services

Department

Physical Education Teacher Education

Committee Chair

Andrew H Hawkins

Abstract

Rising levels of obesity continue to challenge physical educators to engage their students in activities sufficiently vigorous to accrue health-related benefits. Physically active video games are now recognized as a way to enhance physical activity levels in children. A school-based intervention in fifth- and sixth-grade participants (N=33) compared six lessons each of Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), volleyball, and an exercise video (Tae-Bo) according to the following dependent variables: heart rate, step count, active time, rate of perceived exertion, enjoyment, and self-efficacy. Repeated measures within-subjects comparisons revealed significant main effects for activity type across five dependent variables, and significant interactions for four dependent variables (p < .05). DDR elicited the highest heart rates, step counts, and enjoyment scores. Perceived exertion rates indicated that participants exercised vigorously during DDR without recognizing levels of fatigue. Self-efficacy did not change significantly. DDR is a viable, non-traditional way to increase physical activity in elementary schools.

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