Investigating the Effect of a Technology-Supported Physical Education Course on the Physical Activity Levels of University Students

Description of Intervention 1. Brief name: A Technology-Supported Physical Education Course to Increase the Physical Activity Levels of University Students 2. Materials A 16-week physical education course incorporating the modified prototype Learning Management System (LMS) as lecturers’ website and students’ mobile app. The lecturers’ website is entitled PESSPA (Physical Education Supporting Site for Physical Activity), while the student’s app is entitled PESAPA (Physical Education Supporting App for Physical Activity). The PESSPA includes the following features (1) Learning management system features such as uploading course materials (text, pdf, picture, video, direct link), creating quizzes, creating assignments, creating discussions for every lesson week (2). Reviewing students goal settings, physical fitness test results, dietary and physical activity records; and (3). Uploading exercise examples and exercise video guidelines. The PESAPA includes the following features: (1) Access course materials (informative texts, pdfs, pictures, videos, etc.), quizzes, assignments submission, and weekly discussions; (2) goal settings opportunities, physical fitness testing protocols, dietary and physical activity recording opportunities; and (3). Access exercise examples and exercise video guidelines. 3. Procedures, Activities, and/or Processes Used in the Intervention The six lecturers who agree to participate will be randomly assigned to intervention or control and will be asked to invite the students who enrol in their physical education course. The intervention lecturer will have lecturer training and implement the technology-supported physical education course for one semester (16 weeks, 100 minutes per week). Students in the intervention group will attend weekly 100-minutes classes where lecturers will deliver the course content and discuss the assigned tasks. These will all be administered via a mobile app. Students are then expected to spend 2 hours of their own time during the week completing their homework and assignments such as goal-setting, as well as undertaking physical exercise. Weeks 8 and 16 will consist of exams to test the knowledge delivered in the previous weeks. The outcome will be assessed at pre-test (1st week of physical education course after students agree to participate) and post-test (last week of the physical education course). Students will also be invited to participate in a focus group about their experience using the technology at the end of the course for a single 1-hour session. All students in the intervention group will receive an invitation and the first 6 to respond will form the focus group. The principal investigator will conduct the focus group. The exercises prescribed for students as part of this intervention are based-on course content assignments. For example, in week 10, students will receive a demonstration of aerobic dance guided by the mobile app in the class. The lecturer then will give the assignment to practise the aerobic dance outside class two times that week and then record the time, and duration of the activity on the mobile app. Table 1. Course content for intervention and control group Week Intervention Group and Control Group 1 Course Introduction 2 Physical activity, Healthy and active lifestyle knowledge 3 Health-related physical fitness knowledge 4 Goal setting in Physical activity and fitness 5 Body composition 6 Aerobic fitness 7 Muscular fitness and flexibility 8 Midsemester exam 9 Nutrition: Healthy eating 10 Aerobic activity- aerobic dance 11 Aerobic activity- GPS-Based activity 12 Muscular strengthening 13 Flexibility training 14 Create an individual fitness training 15 Overcome the physical activity barrier 16 Final exam 4. Who provided The lecturer will be eligible to deliver intervention if he/she meets the following inclusion criteria: 1) run two classes of the physical education course; 2) willing to take part in lecturer training before the physical education course class begins; and 3) willing to invite their students to take part in the Randomised Controlled Trial. The lecturer training includes: a) Training on how to use the PESSPA website. b) Principal investigator will be administering the training. c) 2-hour sessions for 4 days. d) Mode of training is interactive activities online over Zoom. 5. Mode of delivery Due to the pandemic situation, the course will be conducted fully online. There will be no face-to-face contact with students. 6. Number of times The intervention group will receive 16 weeks (100-minutes per week) of the physical education course incorporated with the prototype of technology-supported physical education course implemented by their lecturer. To clarify, there is also university courses called Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programs that aim to educate preservice physical education teachers to prepare them to become beginning teachers in school settings. However, the physical activity education course (herein now called physical education course) in this study is unit of study with the main outcome is to promote active lifestyles or lifelong physical activity for all undergraduate students. Based on the higher education system in Indonesia, the workload used in the physical education course is a semester credit unit. In this system, one credit is equivalent to 48 hours/semester, 16 meetings, and 3 hours for each meeting consisting of scheduled lecture activities, structured, and independent assignments. The credit system is different from European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) which has a workload of 25 hours of study or 2.5 hours for 10 meetings per semester. When the credit system is changed to the ECTS, the students' workloads for this course is 48:25 x 2 credits = 3.84 ECTS. 7. Location This study will be conducted at the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (Indonesia University of Education) located in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia (www.upi.edu). The physical activity education course of interest is offered to first year and second-year undergraduate students as required (mandatory) learning or as an elective. 8. Adherence To ensure the fidelity of the intervention, the intervention teacher will reflect on each session and provide a fidelity check on what they able to do in the online class.