ERIK DEFRANCO

EDUI 6500
8 October 2015
Article Critique #1

The effects of exergaming on physical activity among inactive children in a physical education
Classroom.
A. APA Article Citation
Fogel, V., Miltenberger, R.,Graves,R., & Koehler S. (2010) The effects of exergaming on
physical activity among inactive children in a physical education Classroom.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 43, 591-600

B. Introduction
This article informs the reader that todays youth are experiencing more health problems and a
decline in physical activity. Children are becoming less active due to the advancement in
technology and gaming. Many games and video systems cause children to live a sedentary
lifestyle.
Due to obesity on the rise especially among children exergaming was created for children to
become more active while playing video games. exergaming is an interactive game where a
child has to move while playing the game. Exergaming was used in a typical physical education
environment to see if inactive students would become more involved in physical activities rather
then a normal typical physical education class.

C. Objectives, Hypotheses, or Research Questions

The purpose of this research was to find if inactive students would be more engaged in physical
activity by using Exergaming or participating in a regular or traditional physical education
environment. Since children today are more interested in gaming and technology, perhaps
students would be more engaged in physical activity if it were designed as a game. Physical
education teachers usually follow a unit or lesson plan that is structured and planed that requires
time for each topic. This can reduce time with transitions and dealing with random situations
such as behavior. Exergaming would have students get active and engaged in activity right away.
Will exergaming also cause inactive students to perform physical activities longer then a typical
physical education class?

D. Methodology
For this study two girls and boys were chosen from a 5th grade class who were considered
inactive students. Physical education fitness scores determined the inactive students. The
dependent variables used in the study were physical movement involving gross motor skills and
when students were engaged in physical activity. In the regular Physical education class the
physical educator had a lesson plan to follow, give instruction, model the skill or activity, and
give students opportunity to perform the skill or activity. The exergaming environment was first
given instruction, modeling, and rotation schedule. The children would rotate every 10 minutes
to a new exergaming station. A survey was given to both the teacher and the students to
understand the social validity of the experiment.
E. Results and Conclusions
The results indicated that all four inactive students engaged in more physical activity and
provided higher levels of opportunities when using exergaming. Each student was evaluated
during this study and a mean was given for all four students. For a regular physical education
environment the inactive students mean was 1.6 minutes of physical activity while mean for
exergaming resulted in 9.2 minutes of physical activity. For the physical activity opportunities
the mean for exergaming was 78%. A regular P.E. session mean was 60%. The social survey
resulted in students engaged in more activity, a reduction in behavior problems, cardiovascular
activity, and skill development according to the teacher and students.
F. Overall
Technology is both important and fun in childrens lives. It would make sense that when a
physical activity or skill would be used as a game, children would be more engaged to do that
activity. I do think that technology and physical education combined would be an excellent
combination to an extent. However, not all physical education programs are run the same way.
Some physical education units are based on cardiovascular health. This will involve students to
continue moving from station to station performing different exercises and skills. Some physical
education units can also be based on sports. If this is the case, baseball for instance a majority of
the time students will be standing around or sitting because of how the game is played. I feel that
both a regular P.E. program and exergaming would be a great combination depending on what
the physical educator wants students to learn or perform.