A Transformational Teaching Intervention: Adolescents in Motion (AIM) Trial

Physical Activity Clinical Trial

— AIM  

Official title:

A Transformational Teaching Intervention: Adolescents in Motion (AIM) Trial

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01371292
• Other study ID #: H08-02513
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: June 7, 2011
• Last updated: September 15, 2014
• Start date: January 2012
• Est. completion date: July 2013

Study information

• Verified date: September 2014
• Source: University of British Columbia
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Canada: Health Canada
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this Randomized Controlled Tria (RCT) is to evaluate the effects of a transformational teaching intervention in comparison to 'standard educational practices' within school-based physical education classes (within three Canadian provinces; British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia) across 5 months.

Description:

Physical inactivity among adolescents has been linked to a vast array of physical and mental health problems. One potential vehicle to foster adolescent involvement in physical activity relates to physical education in schools.

A potentially important framework, that has recently been applied to educational and health promotion contexts, relates to transformational leadership theory. Transformational leadership involves the demonstration of behaviors that empower and inspire others to achieve higher levels of functioning, and has been consistently found to be associated with greater motivation, self-efficacy, well-being, and performance in those being led. From an applied perspective, a growing body of evidence also suggests that transformational behaviors can be developed in leaders through short-term interventions (e.g., one-day workshops), which subsequently result in positive changes in followers' attitudinal and behavioral responses.

With this in mind, the overall goal of this Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) is to test the efficacy of a theory-driven evidence-based transformational teaching intervention for use within school-based physical activity settings. In this 5-month trial, physical education teachers from 36 schools from three provinces across Canada (British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia) will be provided with (through a one day work shop and follow-up support program) the resources they need to implement transformational teaching behaviours in their day-to-day teaching practices. The primary hypothesis for this RCT is that students taught by teachers in the intervention condition will display greater adoption and maintenance of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) behaviors outside of school hours in comparison to control students, after controlling for baseline levels. A process evaluation will also be conducted with teachers to evaluate the procedures embedded within the intervention.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 2160
• Est. completion date: July 2013
• Est. primary completion date: July 2013
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 13 Years to 15 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Grade 9 (aged 14 (+/- 1 year))

Exclusion Criteria:

• Do not have basic working knowledge of English

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Physical Activity

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Transformational Teaching
Physical education teachers randomly assigned to the experimental condition will (through a 1-day workshop format) be provided with the resources to implement transformational approaches in their day-to-day work. In addition, these teachers will be involved in a follow-up support program following the workshop to help them to implement transformational teaching strategies that were developed in the workshop.
• Standard Educational Practices
Physical education teachers randomly assigned to the control condition will take part in a professional development day workshop provided by their respective School Board. This will involve the same amount of contact time, and will take place on the same day as the transformational teaching workshop. It should be noted that the focus of those alternative workshops is unrelated to transformational leadership training.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Canada	Queen's University	Kingston	Ontario
Canada	Nipissing University	North Bay	Ontario
Canada	University of British Columbia	Vancouver	British Columbia
Canada	Acadia University	Wolfville	Nova Scotia

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of British Columbia	Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Canada, 

References & Publications (4)

Beauchamp MR, Barling J, Li Z, Morton KL, Keith SE, Zumbo BD. Development and psychometric properties of the transformational teaching questionnaire. J Health Psychol. 2010 Nov;15(8):1123-34. doi: 10.1177/1359105310364175. Epub 2010 Jun 3. — View Citation

Beauchamp MR, Barling J, Morton KL. Transformational teaching and adolescent self-determined motivation, self-efficacy, and intentions to engage in leisure time physical activity: A randomised controlled pilot Trial. DOI: 10.1111/j.1758-0854.2011.01048.x

Beauchamp MR, Morton KL. Transformational teaching and physical activity engagement among adolescents. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2011 Jul;39(3):133-9. doi: 10.1097/JES.0b013e31822153e7. Review. — View Citation

Morton KL, Keith SE, Beauchamp MR. Transformational teaching and physical activity: a new paradigm for adolescent health promotion? J Health Psychol. 2010 Mar;15(2):248-57. doi: 10.1177/1359105309347586. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)	In addition to collecting self-report physical activity data through the use of questionnaires, a subsample of students (360 out of the overall sample of 2160) will be randomly selected and invited to wear a small physical activity monitor (accelerometer) on three occasions (January, March and May 2012) over the 5-month trial (for 7-days at each data point). The unit of measure that will be used to assess this outcome variable is MINUTES of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity both during leisure time hours (i.e., outside of school) and within school hours.	5 months	No
Secondary	Physical activity-related cognitions and attitudes	All adolescents will complete validated measures of self-efficacy (within class self-efficacy and environmental change self-efficacy), intrinsic motivation and attitudes surrounding physical education and leisure-time physical activity at each of the three time points (January, March and May 2012). Units of measure will be participants' responses on these validated scales.	5 months	No
Secondary	Teaching efficacy	The physical education teachers (approximately n=72) involved in the trial will complete measures of teaching efficacy at each of the three time points (January, March and May 2012). The unit of measure will be teachers' responses on this validated scale.	5 months	No
Secondary	Transformational teaching behaviors	Adolescents' perceptions of their physical education teacher's transformational behaviors will be measured at each of the three time points (January, March and May 2012). The unit of measure will be adolescents' responses on this validated scale.	5 months	No