4. Findings
There was excellent cooperation from administration at Cataraqui Woods E.S. The administration was able to recruit four senior students to conduct the data collection. These students were enthusiastic and appeared to appreciate the leadership opportunity. The students were responsible for collecting the transportation mode from each child in four classrooms. These four classes were a Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 4/5 split, and a Grade 5/6 split. Table 1 outlines the tasks taken on by KFL&A Public Health and Cataraqui Woods in order for this project to proceed in a well-organized fashion.
A few coding and process issues were revealed by doing the pilot. (See Appendix B for an example of a completed tracking form that has been transferred into a Excel table.) The students collecting the data occasionally used different codes than those provided in the coding key (e.g. "D" for drive rather than "C" for car). Some of the students' handwriting was difficult to decipher in which case the letter they were coding was unclear. Some codes were not used at all or were used inconsistently (e.g. code for Walking School Bus was not used although we know some of the children used the Walking School Bus). Lastly, there were missing data without explanation (e.g. if a child was absent then an "A" should have been coded, if the child was present but not in the classroom at the time of coding a note should have been written on the coding sheet). The weather conditions, temperature and important school activities (that might affect active transportation) were tracked inconsistently.
Data were to be collected during one week of June to capture active transportation use when the weather is usually particularly good. This ended up not being a good time to collect data. Some of the students collecting data did not record any information and others collected for only two days out of the week. The data collectors did not record whether they were otherwise occupied, if the classrooms were too busy, or if students were away on a field trip.
|
Time frame |
KFL&A Public Health responsibilities: |
School site responsibilities: |
|---|---|---|
|
August 2012 |
- Inform LDSB of plan to track active transportation in one elementary school |
--- |
|
September 2012 |
- Apply for Ethical approval from Queen's University |
--- |
|
October 2012 |
- Submit proposal to the LDSB - Discuss implementation of the tracking system with a school representative (e.g. vice principal) - Select 4-5 weeks over the academic year to monitor mode of transportation - Discuss data collection method with upper year students - Provide upper year students with tracking sheets, clipboard, file folder, & labels and stickers to decorate folders |
- Recruit upper year students to be data collectors - Select which classrooms will be monitored - Decide best time of day for students to visit classrooms |
|
November 2012 |
- Email school representative 1-2 days prior to data collection week - Track weather during week of data collection - Meet with students after first week's data collection; respond to questions - Input data collected by students into Excel spreadsheet. Save on encrypted USB memory stick. Memory stick was stored with file folders in secure location at the school between data collection times |
- Students visit classrooms to collect data - Store data collection forms in secure location at the school in between collection periods |
|
February, April, & June 2013 |
- Email school representative 1-2 days prior to data collection week - Track weather during week of data collection - Input data after each collection week |
- Complete data collection during designated weeks - Store data collection forms in secure location at the school in between collection periods |