Middle school students’ understanding of energy in health and fitness

Abstract

We used mixed methods to identify middle school students’ conceptions and misconceptions of energy in the domain of health and fitness. We selected a total of 24 middle schools from six school districts in a Southeastern state of the U. S. through stratified sampling. Students were first given a standardized knowledge test to establish their knowledge level membership in the domain of health and fitness. A sample of 291 students was selected from the 24 schools for semi-structured interviews on their understanding of energy sources for physical activities and consequences of energy surplus. Analysis of the interview data identified a variety of misconceptions on energy by grade and knowledge levels. Different conceptual change theories were adopted to form four themes to explain the identified misconceptions. We discussed pedagogical implications that may help address the misconceptions in and beyond the domain of health and fitness.

KEYWORDS:

• Energy
• misconception
• knowledge transfer
• health and fitness

Acknowledgements

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. This research is part of a larger intervention study. However, the focus on the students’ understanding of energy sources for physical activities and consequences of energy surplus is unique. The data reported in this manuscript are, and will be, distinct from those reported elsewhere.

Notes

1 Imbalance includes positive-balance and negative-balance. Positive balance indicates a person takes in a greater number of calories than those the person expends. Negative balance is the opposite. Maintaining positive-balance would have negative impact on a person’s overall health.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this article was supported by National Institutes of Health under award number R25 RR032163.