Får idrottande elever högre betyg?
en fallstudie på tre samhällsvetenskapliga program för att visa eventuella samband mellan fysisk aktivitet och höga betyg
Abstract AimThe purpose of this study has been to investigate the possible differences in grades and attitudes towards further studies that can be explained by the student?s level of physical activity. The questions we wanted answers to were:- Does students in more sports-oriented programs have better grades than students in more theoretical programs?- Is there a relationship between physical activity and study-results?- Are there any differences in attitudes towards further studies for students at the different programs?- Which other variables could be affecting the students grades?Method The extent of this study has included 3 municipal schools and 6 classes (2 from each school) ? in all 119 students and 6 teachers. 3 different social sciences programs have participated ? two sports-oriented and one without any sports-oriented concentration . The study has been done with questionnaries where the students have stated their grades, their level of physical activity, attitudes towards further studies and other possible influential factors. The students teachers have also answered questionnaries to investigate their opinion about their students and to see if the demands are the same. The statistic material from the study has then been analyzed in the statistical analysis programme SPSS.Results In this study we have not been able to prove that physical activity actually leads to higher grades. Our results show that it is more about the time the students put on their schoolwork, their ambition and the programs study rate that can be related to higher grades. Our results also show that students in more sports oriented programs are not as keen on future studies as students on more theoretical programs.Conclusion Our study has not been able to show relationships between a high grade of physical activity and high grades. Still we consider that we can strengthen that physical activity 3-4 times/week on a moderate/high effort level is the optimal training quantity for reaching higher grades.