The Connection Between Sports And Academic Performance
In this essay I will be analyzing researches of the relationsip between Sports And Academic Performance. The first research was conducted in mid-2016 in the University of Copenhagen. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the association between motor skills, exercise capacity and cognitive function, and evaluate how they have an effect on academic performance. The method used in this study was a cross-sectional. It involved 423 Danish children around the age of 9. 209 of whom were girls and the rest were boys. Their fine motor skills were evaluated using a visuomotor accuracy-tracking task whereas whole-body coordination task was used to evaluate gross motor skills. As for their exercise capacity, a Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 children’s test was used, and tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test automated Battery was used to assess their cognitive functions. The association between these results were investigated using linear mixed-effects models, and was referenced to academic performance such as reading comprehension and mathematics. The results obtained shows that fine and gross motor skills, exercise capacity and cognitive functions are all associated with better performance in academics. This study also concluded that fine and gross motor skills correlate positively with several aspects of cognitive functions and academic performance. The second study I came upon was conducted by Colquitt, Langdon, Hires and Pritchard examined the relationship between fitness and academic achievement in an urban school setting. It was done to emphasize the importance of fitness among children, as obesity rates has increased throughout the years. The participants of this study were 172 elementary students aged from 4 to 9 who were enrolled in compulsory coeducational PE classes at urban schools. Of these 172 children, 82% receive free or reduced school lunch, which can have an impact on their nutrition. They were administered a FITNESSGRAM fitness test. This test measures endurance, flexibility and body composition. The data obtained were compared to the students’ achievements in subjects like reading, mathematics and language arts. For the fitness test, the better the participants were, the more they exceed the expectations for mathematics and language arts.
Moreover, the study concluded that students who receive free lunch or reduced lunch have higher performance levels on language arts and mathematics than those who do not. In conclusion, schools should promote maintaining physical fitness to students, as the results shown that academic achievement is related to physical education. Chalmers and Martin conducted a study on 5847 school-aged children in 46 elementary schools. They were initially administered a fitness test battery, followed by an academic achievement test during the school year. The study was conducted to prove that benefits gained from physical education are related to academic achievement, since previous investigations to the relationship between academic achievement and physical fitness have produced mixed results. The children were given three academic tests, and the percentile scores for each test were averaged. The five fitness tests percentile scores were then also averaged. The relationship between those two scores was plotted and the significance were calculated. The data collected were analyzed and interpreted using the Pearson coefficient of correlation. Due to the fact that the curved lines drawn was not found to fit the data, and there was no straight-line trend, the study concluded that there is no correlation between the physical fitness and academic performance. In 2013, a study was conducted by clustering 17 elementary schools at random to A+PAAC or control group for a 3-year trial. It was done to improve students’ academic performance and at the same time reduce the rate of obesity among elementary school students. School teachers were trained to deliver academic instruction through physical activity, which main goal is to prevent the gain of body mass index. The Weschler Individual Achievement Test-III was used to measure the students’ academic achievement. The results obtained from this study proved that there is an association between physical activity and academic performance, and that increasing physical activity among children has numerous amount of advantages. Therefore, this study concluded that it is strongly recommended for schools to try out this method to improve both educational quality and health. Last but not least, a research conducted in late 2007 examined the effect of sports participation on academic performance, and their result concluded that sports performance can lead to enhanced academic performance. This research was conducted by Daniel Rees and Joseph Sabia, who used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, along with a follow-up survey. The initial thought was that participating in sports reduce the time available for students to study and learn, however they mentioned that sports participation can lead to self-discipline and a boosted motivation, therefore it can improve students’ academic performance. This study came to a conclusion that an increase in physical activities have good impact on health, and it is more likely to have a positive impact on academic performance. It has a win/win effect on students’ health and academic performance on best case scenarios, and at worst it will have a win/break even effect. One of the main reasons on why this topic was chosen was because there has been mixed results to similar researches like this, and there has not been a definite answer on which specific result is true and which one is false.
My hypothesis is the increased the amount of physical activity conducted, the better your academic performance is. This is due to the fact that participating in sports can have benefits such as boosting confidence and self-esteem. Moreover, in some cases playing sports can relieve stress, which can have a positive impact on academic performance. The subjects would be 4 different groups of middle school students (40 students in each group). Each group will go through the exact same school program for a year, but the amount of physical education per week will vary.The teaching method for each group will be maintained to be as similar as possible and the materials for teaching will be the exact same, to ensure that the result is accurate. The control for this experiment will be the amount of study hours, and the variable will be the amount of fitness hours. At the end of the school year, all of the students who participated in the research will take the two exact same tests, English (Reading Comprehension) and Mathematics. For each student, the average of the two test scores will be taken, and the scores for all the students in each group will be marked on a percentile graph. The results obtained from all four groups will be compared and analyzed to see if the amount of physical activity done throughout the year actually have an impact on their overall academic performance. The results obtained concluded that the group C (3 hours of fitness a week) scored the best, followed by group B (2 hours of fitness a week), and group D (4 hours of fitness a week) and finally group A (1 hour of fitness a week). This shows that maintaining physical fitness is necessary for students, however we should limit it to only a few hours a week, as the result showed that when it is overdone, it can in fact have a negative impact instead of improving the academic performance. Therefore, we should just enforce physical fitness for an appropriate time each week, and the amount based on this study is 3 hours a week. In conclusion, schools should also emphasize the importance of physical education to students. Aside from focusing on their studies, student should also spare some time to conduct physical fitness. It is necessary to do sports at least once a week. As not only do sports improve overall health, it can have a positive impact on academic performance. Aside from focusing on studies, students should spare some time to maintain their physical fitness well. It is necessary to do sports at least once a week. As not only do sports improve overall health, it has been proven that it has a positive impact on academic performance. One of the most important things I learnt from this study is that even though participating in sports can limit the amount of time for students to study, its advantages is very beneficial to students as it has been stated to improve academic performance, and if not it also improves health which can lessen the chance for diseases like obesity to occur. Last but not least, it is important for students understand the relationship between physical fitness and academic performance, as it may affect the performance in their academics.
