Effects of HOPSports on-line-streaming brain breaks intervention program in primary school

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of providing On-Line-Streaming Brain Breaks (OLSBB) video lessons during class breaks on children’s perceptions of, attitudes towards, motivation for physical activity, physical self-confidence and specific academic knowledge in primary school. Methods. Study included 181 primary schoolchildren from grade 1 to grade 4, 93 (51.4%) in experimental and 88 (48.6%) in control group (Mage = 8.24, SD = 1.10). The effects of OLSBB were measured by Questionnaire on Physical Activity (QPA) at pre- and post-class. Eight factors (scales) were derived during exploratory factor analysis procedure: Relationship with Language, Art, Music and Culture, Physical Self-confidence, Personal Best, General Knowledge, Effectiveness of Physical Activity to Promote Health, Exercise Motivation, Exercise Knowledge and Importance of Doing Exercise as Habit. All scales showed good internal consistency (Cronbach άs >.79). Experimental group received OLSBB intervention every school day, 5-9 minutes BB video per day for three months during class breaks, supervised by classroom teachers. Each interactive learning BB video provided motor skills learning or practice. Motor skills instructions in video were held in the context of health and nutrition education, social learning, environmental stewardship, specific knowledge on mathematics, writing skills, language, art, music and culture. Results. A repeated measure ANOVA with Time as within subject factor determined that experimental group showed higher and control group reported lower scores on four scales (Personal Best, General Knowledge, Exercise Motivation and Importance of Doing Exercise as Habit) at post-class comparing to baseline. A repeated measure ANOVA with group (experimental vs. control) as between subject factor showed significant effect for Time X Group interaction for each scale indicating elevated mean scores in experimental whereas lower scores in control group for QPA scales across time. Conclusion. Video exercise training program for three months elicits improvement in children’s perceptions of, attitudes towards, motivation for physical activity and specific academic knowledge. It may be concluded that Brain Breaks intervention program contributes to physical, health and general education of primary school children.