International Journal of Physical Education, Fitness and Sports

Emotional Scaffolding Through Sport-Based Educational Games in Early Childhood Education: A Qualitative Study Using NVivo

2026-01-12T02:33:32+00:00

Social–emotional learning (SEL) in early childhood is a foundational predictor of later wellbeing, learning engagement, and life outcomes. Movement- and game-based learning is frequently recommended for preschool settings, yet evidence remains limited on how teachers provide emotional scaffolding while children engage in sport-based educational games, particularly in Indonesian early childhood education and care (ECEC). This qualitative case study explored (1) how teachers scaffold children’s emotions during sport-based educational games, (2) how game structure elicits opportunities for emotion regulation and prosocial behavior, and (3) how SEL goals are integrated into planning and reflection. Data were collected through classroom observations of game sessions, semi-structured interviews with three ECEC teachers and five parents, and document review of lesson plans (RPPH/RPPM). Data were analyzed thematically with Nvivo 12 plus (open coding, categorization, and theme refinement), supported by a codebook and matrix-coding queries. Four themes emerged: teacher emotional scaffolding practices, game structure as a trigger for SEL, observed socio-emotional behavioral change, and integration into planning and reflective practice. The findings highlight the pedagogical value of sport-based educational games as a context for emotion coaching and co-regulation, and provide practical guidance for embedding SEL indicators into early childhood physical education activities.

Association of Martial Arts and Executive Functions in Children Aged 8–12 Years: A Cross-Sectional Study

2025-09-21T16:05:21+00:00

Executive functions (EFs), including inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, are critical for cognitive development and academic success in children. Research suggests that structured physical activities, such as martial arts, are associated with better EFs, yet studies in non-Western contexts like Morocco are scarce. This study addressed this gap by examining the association between martial arts training and EFs among Moroccan children mean age = 10.20 years, SD = 1.30; 26 females and 34 males. A cross-sectional design was employed, comparing 30 children practicing full contact and kung fu in semi-urban clubs with 30 children engaging in unstructured play in rural areas. EFs were assessed using culturally adapted tests, including the Digit Span Test, Corsi Block-Tapping Test, Stroop Color-Word Test, and New Card Sorting Test, with composite scores for each EF domain. Non-parametric and parametric tests were used due to non-normal data distributions. Results indicated that the martial arts group outperformed the control group across all EF domains (inhibitory control: d = -1.562, p < 0.001; cognitive flexibility: d = -0.826, p = 0.003; Working memory: r = 0.473, p < 0.001), with inhibitory control as the strongest predictor of group membership (b = -2.673, p = 0.003, OR = 0.069). Cognitive flexibility mediated 41.7% of the association between martial arts and overall EF performance (p = 0.010). These findings suggest martial arts are associated with better cognitive development in Moroccan children, informing potential integration into educational curricula. The cross-sectional design and modest sample size limit causal inferences, warranting longitudinal research to explore working memory ability in diverse cultural settings.

The Effects of Heart Rate Feedback and Extrinsic Reward on Students’ Activity Level in Elementary Physical Education

2025-12-29T14:15:23+00:00

Due to reduced instructional time in Physical Education (PE), teachers are challenged to help students achieve at least 50% of class time in Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA). This study examined the effects of real-time heart rate (HR) feedback, extrinsic rewards, and grade level on students’ activity level in elementary PE. Results showed a significant main effect for grade level. Second graders had a higher % MVPA than fifth graders. There was a significant screen reward interaction. Participants in the screen condition had a higher % MVPA when extrinsic rewards were involved, but those in the no-screen condition had a higher % MVPA when no extrinsic reward was given. There was a significant grade level reward interaction. Fifth graders had a higher % MVPA when tangible items were offered, but second graders had a higher % MVPA with oral recognition alone. The results suggested more teaching on the HR-related content and exploring different types of extrinsic rewards.

Developing Responsibility through Action Research: Implementing Hellison’s Model as a Whole-School Approach in Primary Education

2025-09-17T18:37:07+00:00

In the past few years, there has been a growing interest in the use of Hellison’s Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model both in sports and Physical Education (PE) programs and in broader pedagogical interventions. TPSR helps individuals adopt habits and set behavioural goals, based on a culture of responsibility both within and outside of school contexts. The present study describes a TPSR participatory action research intervention conducted at a primary school in an urban area of Attica in Greece, as a whole-school approach that could help students develop responsible habits and attitudes. Ninety-one (91) students (boys=48, girls=43, aged 8 to 12 years) from grades 3-6 participated in the study, together with four generalist teachers, the PE teacher, and the school principal. Data was collected pre- and post with the Greek version of the Personal and Social Responsibility Questionnaire (PSRQ) (quantitative data), along with qualitative data, from teacher reflective journals, and classroom observations. A mixed methods ANOVA (time x grade) was used to evaluate the effect of the intervention on students’ personal and social responsibility, while qualitative data were analysed thematically based on the TPSR levels of responsibility. Results showed that there was a statistically significant main effect of time, with students exhibiting higher levels of personal and social responsibility at the end of the intervention. Qualitative data analyses revealed that teachers’ goal setting and ongoing reflection contributed to students’ responsibility and positive behavior development. The importance of action research as a proactive and reactive approach to educational transformation was mentioned by all participants. These findings highlight the need to prepare the ground for implementing TPSR as a whole-school approach that foregrounds the building of strong and trusting relationships as critical to reconnecting students with the broader school culture.

Personalized Training Optimization for Sports Athletes Using a Hybrid Machine Learning and Rule-Based Expert System Approach

2026-01-23T12:48:05+00:00

The current research provides a basis for the personalization of athletic training optimization, but there are still many possibilities for the further extension and refinement of the hybrid intelligent system approach for future research. The current system includes each athlete assessment as an athletic snapshot in isolation and does not have information about the temporal aspects of training history and response to training. In the future this type of work should also include modelling approaches such as recurrent neural network or state space models that observe the evolution of performance over longer training cycles. Longitudinal data would allow the system to adapt learned individual adaptation rates, recognize the individual as a responder to or non-responder of particular training stimuli and enact adaptive programming, the means to adjust based on the results actually achieved rather than static predictions. The use of closed-loop feedback control using the frameworks of reinforcement learning is a very promising direction. The ability to discover nearly optimized training adjustment policies by allowing the system to see outcomes in many thousands of combinations of athlete and intervention opens the door to finding some of the subtler interaction effects between aspects of the athlete and the program variables that are difficult to encode as rules. This approach would make the system from prescriptive to truly adaptive, so that recommendations would improve as more and more athletes move through training cycles.