Effect of two educational methods of lecturing and peer group on physical activity among 12-15-year-old students in health promoting schools

Abstract EN

Background: The promotion of physical activity among students is a matter of concern and one of Healthy People 2020 objectives.

Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the effect of two educational methods of lecturing and the peer group on students’vphysical activity.

Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 142 female students were randomly selected and assigned to two groups: lecture and peervgroup.

Two physical activity questionnaires, namely the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, were filled out by the students before the educational intervention and eight weeks later.

Data were analyzed in SPSS software(version 20) using the parametric (independent and paired sample t-tests) and non-parametric tests (Man- Whitney U test and Wilcoxon Signed-Ranked test).

Results: The results of the study approved the following research hypothesis: “the two educational methods of lecture and peer group differently affect students' physical activity".

In both groups, the level of physical activity was low at the commencement of the study.

Nonetheless, eight weeks after the educational intervention program, a significant increase was observed in the physical activity of students in the peer group, compared to their counterparts in the lecture group using both questionnaires(P<0.001).

Moreover, the number of students with low physical activity declined (P=0.001), while a substantial increase was observed in the number of students with moderate physical activity (P<0.01).

Conclusion: The dynamic nature of peer group causes sustainable learning in the domain of psychomotor skills.

Therefore, this active teaching method should be developed in schools to arouse students' interest in health programs.