Stationary Bike Evaluation Brief
Q: Are the Stationary Bikes, recently placed in 6 Limestone District School Board classrooms, being used?
A: Yes - 5 out of 6 teachers reported their bike(s) was used on a regular basis.
In the fall of 2011, KFL&A Public Health met with the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) and the Algonquin Lakeshore Catholic District School Board to address physical activity (PA) levels and how to enhance PA opportunities for children and youth. The positive impact PA has on academics and student engagement was discussed along with the well-known health benefits.
In response to the meeting, KFL&A Public Health purchased 10 stationary bikes for the LDSB to contribute to a supportive environment for PA in schools. The LDSB chose to put the bikes in 6 classrooms where students with behaviour management and social skills issues could experience the benefits of easily accessible PA.
The use of bikes in this type of classroom is consistent with the work done in 'Sparking Life Niagara' where bikes were placed in credit recovery classes.1
Increasing PA in children and youth is a priority for the KFL&A Public Health School Team. The Ontario Public Health Standards require public health to work with school boards and staff of elementary and secondary schools to develop and implement healthy policies and create supportive environments.2
The benefits of regular PA in children and youth to their physical development have been widely accepted for a long time.3 More recently there has been an emphasis on the effect of PA on social, emotional and intellectual development. There is growing evidence that regular PA improves academic performance including concentra- tion, cognitive processing and classroom behaviour.3,4
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Positive use of bikes reported by teachers: |
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| Which classrooms have the stationary bikes? |
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For every problem ... there is a SOLUTION.
They take up precious space in small classrooms.
SOLUTION:
- Bikes have been placed in hallway outside of the class- room.
- Bikes have been put on the stage in the auditorium with easy access for students and staff.
- Bike has been put in the middle of the classroom and used as the 'command centre'.
Having only one bike in a classroom has set up conflict between students wanting use it at the same time.
SOLUTION:
- All schools have 2 bikes. A rotation system could be arranged where one classroom has 2 bikes for a period of time, then the 2 bikes move to another classroom.
Using the bike has been perceived as punitive by some students.
SOLUTION:
- Use of bikes must be completely optional for students
- Change the use of bikes to a reward.
| How was this information collected? |
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The teachers with bikes in their classroom were asked to monitor the use of the bikes using a track- ing form. If completed, the form would collect date, time of day, and length of time on the bike for each user. This method of tracking was not used consis- tently in any of the classrooms. All teachers were interviewed in person using pre- determined questions. Answers to these questions have been summarized for the purposes of this brief. |
| Use of Bikes in classrooms |
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| References |
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