Marjeta Kovač
Biographic Data
| ID | 3680366 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Marjeta Kovač |
| GIVEN NAMES | Marjeta |
| FAMILY NAME | Kovač |
| SIGNATURE | KOVAČ M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Ljubljana |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4796-3635 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The ACDSi 2023–24 study protocol
The Analysis of Children's Development in Slovenia (ACDSi) is a unique decennial national study that has been monitoring somatic and motor development in Slovenian children and adolescents for more than five decades. It offers unparalleled insight into long-term secular trends in physical fitness and related correlates and determinants. This paper presents the study design and updated methodology of the ACDSi 2023/24 edition, ensuring continuity …
Enhancing early childhood motor skills through teacher-focused video-based instruction and expert consultations
Purpose This study examined the effectiveness of a teacher-focused intervention designed to enhance children’s fundamental movement skills (FMS) by strengthening teachers’ instructional competence and confidence. The intervention combined video-based instructional resources with expert consultations to support teachers’ self-efficacy, autonomy, and adaptive teaching practices. A mixed-methods approach was used to capture both child motor outcomes…
The effects of teacher-led and teacher-guided interventions on preschool children’s motor competency
Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are critical for children’s overall development, yet inconsistencies in early childhood education curricula often hinder systematic skill acquisition. This study examined the effects of two instructional approaches – teacher-led and teacher-guided interventions – on the development of FMS in Slovenian kindergarten children aged 4–6 years. A total of 94 children were randomly assigned to teacher-led, teacher-guide…
Occupational health disorders among physical education teachers compared to classroom and subject specialist teachers
During the course of their work, teachers may be subjected to conditions that cause different health problems. This study examines occupational health disorders in a representative sample of 858 teachers (528 female; age 44.0 ± 9.67 years) divided into three groups of teachers with specific occupational requirements: specialist physical education teachers (specialist PETs), classroom teachers, and specialist teachers. The number of health disorde…
SLOfit Lifelong
SLOfit Lifelong is a public health initiative which was created to upgrade a well-established, national physical fitness surveillance system for Slovenian schoolchildren that has been collecting annual fitness and health data for over three decades. The ultimate objective of creating SLOfit Lifelong was to build a modern societal infrastructure with the capacity and ability to detect future causal associations between childhood physical fitness t…
A Covid-19 Crisis in Child Physical Fitness
The Republic of Slovenia implements the largest longitudinal database of child physical fitness in the world–SLOfit. Slovenia has some of the most physically active children globally, and it has responded rapidly to incorporate national physical activity (PA) interventions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite aggressive campaigns to maintain PA at home, the country has seen a tremendous decrease in child physical fitness over the past severa…
The Self-Perceived Subject-Specific Professional Competencies of Slovenian Physical Education Teachers in Different Working Environments
This cross-sectional study was designed to analyse the differences in the subject-specific competencies of Slovenian Physical Education (PE) teachers according to their physical working environment. The participants, 681 Slovenian PE teachers, evaluated their professional subject-specific competencies (n=40) on a four-level Likert scale and two factors of their physical working environment (size of sports facilities and their equipment) with a se…
The Quality of Practical Pedagogical Training During the Epidemic Through the Eyes of the Slovenian Physical Education Student Teachers
In 2020, physical education teacher education (PETE) students of the Faculty of Sport of the University of Ljubljana (N = 46) had to complete a large part of the practical pedagogical training online. Using an online questionnaire, we investigated how they delivered distance learning in physical education (PE) at Primary Schools, the extent to which they achieved their objectives, encouraged students to move, delivered content, and assessed. The …
Associations of mode and distance of commuting to school with cardiorespiratory fitness in Slovenian schoolchildren
Background It is unclear whether active commuting has the potential to improve children’s health. This study examined the association of commuting mode and distance with children’s cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study, including 713 Slovenian schoolchildren aged 12 to 15 years. Commuting modes were self-reported, and four commuting groups were constructed, while CRF was determined with a 20-m shuttle run t…
Children's Physical Activity, Academic Performance, and Cognitive Functioning
Beliefs of Slovenian early childhood educators regarding the implementation of physical education
This cross-sectional study was designed to identify Slovenian early childhood educators’ beliefs concerning the importance of the competencies required to carry out physical education (PE), to identify which of those competencies early childhood educators might lack and to identify which competencies should be developed in the process of continuous professional development. For this purpose, a self-administered questionnaire was designed to exami…
The Importance of Research-Based Data for Design of Intervention Sport Programmes for Children / Važnost rezultata dosadašnjih istraživanja za kreiranje interventnih sportskih programa za djecu
In the last twenty years rapid changes of children and adolescents lifestyles have been observed worldwide. Studies of secular changes show that changes in the lifestyles of children and adolescents in developed countries are manifested in increased subcutaneous fat, in higher proportion of overweight population and in deterioration of their motor performance, particularly endurance and strength. Poor physical fitness of children and youth is ass…
Acoustics in School Sport Halls and Its Implications for Physical Education/Akustika u školskim dvoranama i njezine implikacije na nastavu tjelesnoga odgoja
Due to the demanding acoustic conditions in physical education lessons and the related problems with health and academic success, the aim of this study was to examine the acoustic conditions of teaching in sport halls in Slovenia. Thirty-five sport halls were selected, reflecting four types of school sport halls grouped according to the period of their construction. The reverberation time was measured, and speech intelligibility was calculated by…
School day and weekend patterns of physical activity in urban 11‐year‐olds
OBJECTIVES: This multi-center study was conducted to objectively evaluate energy expenditure and physical activity (PA) patterns on school days and weekends in urban 11-year-olds. METHODS: The sample consisted of 241 children from three cities: Zagreb, Ljubljana (both in Central Europe) and Ann Arbor (United States). Energy expenditure and PA were assessed during two school days and two weekend days using a multiple-sensor body monitor. RESULTS: …
Associations of objectively assessed sleep and physical activity in 11-year old children
This study found no evidence for a link between short sleep and low or reduced physical activity
Physical Activity, Physical Fitness Levels, Daily Energy Intake and Some Eating Habits of 11-Year-Old Children / Fizička aktivnost, razine fizičke kondicije, dnevni unos energije i neke prehrambene na…
The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships between energy intake, energy expenditure (physical activity), physical fitness, body mass index and certain eating habits (breakfast and snacks after 8 p.m.) of 11-year-old children. A cluster sample of 72 children (35 boys and 37 girls), aged 11.8 (±0.3) years was used for this purpose. The measurements took place during two weekdays and two weekend days. Physical activity (energy expenditu…
Influence of the Enhanced Physical Education Curriculum on the Physical Fitness of Children / Utjecaj Kineziološke Intervencije Na Fizičku Formu Djece
This study was designed as a cluster-randomised quasi-experiment to assess the effect of the implementation of school-based kinesiological intervention, through which some schools in Slovenia offer an enhanced physical education curriculum, on children's physical fitness in the first four years of schooling. A total of 328 children from nine Slovenian primary schools were assigned to kinesiological intervention (n=157) and control groups (n=171).…
Competencies in physical education teaching
This paper examines Slovenian physical education (PE) teachers' ( n = 85) estimations of their own actual and desired professional competencies with the aim of diagnosing the main needs of practising PE teachers and resolving them within a revised Slovenian Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) curricula and through continued professional development programmes. Results show that PE teachers realistically acknowledge their own deficiencies …
Beliefs of Slovenian early childhood educators regarding the implementation of physical education
This cross-sectional study was designed to identify Slovenian early childhood educators’ beliefs concerning the importance of the competencies required to carry out physical education (PE), to identify which of those competencies early childhood educators might lack and to identify which competencies should be developed in the process of continuous professional development. For this purpose, a self-administered questionnaire was designed to exami…
Competencies in physical education teaching
This paper examines Slovenian physical education (PE) teachers' ( n = 85) estimations of their own actual and desired professional competencies with the aim of diagnosing the main needs of practising PE teachers and resolving them within a revised Slovenian Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) curricula and through continued professional development programmes. Results show that PE teachers realistically acknowledge their own deficiencies …
Competencies in physical education teaching
This paper examines Slovenian physical education (PE) teachers' ( n = 85) estimations of their own actual and desired professional competencies with the aim of diagnosing the main needs of practising PE teachers and resolving them within a revised Slovenian Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) curricula and through continued professional development programmes. Results show that PE teachers realistically acknowledge their own deficiencies …
Influence of the Enhanced Physical Education Curriculum on the Physical Fitness of Children / Utjecaj Kineziološke Intervencije Na Fizičku Formu Djece
This study was designed as a cluster-randomised quasi-experiment to assess the effect of the implementation of school-based kinesiological intervention, through which some schools in Slovenia offer an enhanced physical education curriculum, on children's physical fitness in the first four years of schooling. A total of 328 children from nine Slovenian primary schools were assigned to kinesiological intervention (n=157) and control groups (n=171).…
Physical Activity, Physical Fitness Levels, Daily Energy Intake and Some Eating Habits of 11-Year-Old Children / Fizička aktivnost, razine fizičke kondicije, dnevni unos energije i neke prehrambene na…
The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships between energy intake, energy expenditure (physical activity), physical fitness, body mass index and certain eating habits (breakfast and snacks after 8 p.m.) of 11-year-old children. A cluster sample of 72 children (35 boys and 37 girls), aged 11.8 (±0.3) years was used for this purpose. The measurements took place during two weekdays and two weekend days. Physical activity (energy expenditu…
Associations of objectively assessed sleep and physical activity in 11-year old children
This study found no evidence for a link between short sleep and low or reduced physical activity
Acoustics in School Sport Halls and Its Implications for Physical Education/Akustika u školskim dvoranama i njezine implikacije na nastavu tjelesnoga odgoja
Due to the demanding acoustic conditions in physical education lessons and the related problems with health and academic success, the aim of this study was to examine the acoustic conditions of teaching in sport halls in Slovenia. Thirty-five sport halls were selected, reflecting four types of school sport halls grouped according to the period of their construction. The reverberation time was measured, and speech intelligibility was calculated by…
School day and weekend patterns of physical activity in urban 11‐year‐olds
OBJECTIVES: This multi-center study was conducted to objectively evaluate energy expenditure and physical activity (PA) patterns on school days and weekends in urban 11-year-olds. METHODS: The sample consisted of 241 children from three cities: Zagreb, Ljubljana (both in Central Europe) and Ann Arbor (United States). Energy expenditure and PA were assessed during two school days and two weekend days using a multiple-sensor body monitor. RESULTS: …
The Importance of Research-Based Data for Design of Intervention Sport Programmes for Children / Važnost rezultata dosadašnjih istraživanja za kreiranje interventnih sportskih programa za djecu
In the last twenty years rapid changes of children and adolescents lifestyles have been observed worldwide. Studies of secular changes show that changes in the lifestyles of children and adolescents in developed countries are manifested in increased subcutaneous fat, in higher proportion of overweight population and in deterioration of their motor performance, particularly endurance and strength. Poor physical fitness of children and youth is ass…
Beliefs of Slovenian early childhood educators regarding the implementation of physical education
This cross-sectional study was designed to identify Slovenian early childhood educators’ beliefs concerning the importance of the competencies required to carry out physical education (PE), to identify which of those competencies early childhood educators might lack and to identify which competencies should be developed in the process of continuous professional development. For this purpose, a self-administered questionnaire was designed to exami…
Children's Physical Activity, Academic Performance, and Cognitive Functioning
A Covid-19 Crisis in Child Physical Fitness
The Republic of Slovenia implements the largest longitudinal database of child physical fitness in the world–SLOfit. Slovenia has some of the most physically active children globally, and it has responded rapidly to incorporate national physical activity (PA) interventions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite aggressive campaigns to maintain PA at home, the country has seen a tremendous decrease in child physical fitness over the past severa…
The Self-Perceived Subject-Specific Professional Competencies of Slovenian Physical Education Teachers in Different Working Environments
This cross-sectional study was designed to analyse the differences in the subject-specific competencies of Slovenian Physical Education (PE) teachers according to their physical working environment. The participants, 681 Slovenian PE teachers, evaluated their professional subject-specific competencies (n=40) on a four-level Likert scale and two factors of their physical working environment (size of sports facilities and their equipment) with a se…
The Quality of Practical Pedagogical Training During the Epidemic Through the Eyes of the Slovenian Physical Education Student Teachers
In 2020, physical education teacher education (PETE) students of the Faculty of Sport of the University of Ljubljana (N = 46) had to complete a large part of the practical pedagogical training online. Using an online questionnaire, we investigated how they delivered distance learning in physical education (PE) at Primary Schools, the extent to which they achieved their objectives, encouraged students to move, delivered content, and assessed. The …
Associations of mode and distance of commuting to school with cardiorespiratory fitness in Slovenian schoolchildren
Background It is unclear whether active commuting has the potential to improve children’s health. This study examined the association of commuting mode and distance with children’s cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study, including 713 Slovenian schoolchildren aged 12 to 15 years. Commuting modes were self-reported, and four commuting groups were constructed, while CRF was determined with a 20-m shuttle run t…
SLOfit Lifelong
SLOfit Lifelong is a public health initiative which was created to upgrade a well-established, national physical fitness surveillance system for Slovenian schoolchildren that has been collecting annual fitness and health data for over three decades. The ultimate objective of creating SLOfit Lifelong was to build a modern societal infrastructure with the capacity and ability to detect future causal associations between childhood physical fitness t…
Occupational health disorders among physical education teachers compared to classroom and subject specialist teachers
During the course of their work, teachers may be subjected to conditions that cause different health problems. This study examines occupational health disorders in a representative sample of 858 teachers (528 female; age 44.0 ± 9.67 years) divided into three groups of teachers with specific occupational requirements: specialist physical education teachers (specialist PETs), classroom teachers, and specialist teachers. The number of health disorde…
The ACDSi 2023–24 study protocol
The Analysis of Children's Development in Slovenia (ACDSi) is a unique decennial national study that has been monitoring somatic and motor development in Slovenian children and adolescents for more than five decades. It offers unparalleled insight into long-term secular trends in physical fitness and related correlates and determinants. This paper presents the study design and updated methodology of the ACDSi 2023/24 edition, ensuring continuity …
Enhancing early childhood motor skills through teacher-focused video-based instruction and expert consultations
Purpose This study examined the effectiveness of a teacher-focused intervention designed to enhance children’s fundamental movement skills (FMS) by strengthening teachers’ instructional competence and confidence. The intervention combined video-based instructional resources with expert consultations to support teachers’ self-efficacy, autonomy, and adaptive teaching practices. A mixed-methods approach was used to capture both child motor outcomes…
The effects of teacher-led and teacher-guided interventions on preschool children’s motor competency
Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are critical for children’s overall development, yet inconsistencies in early childhood education curricula often hinder systematic skill acquisition. This study examined the effects of two instructional approaches – teacher-led and teacher-guided interventions – on the development of FMS in Slovenian kindergarten children aged 4–6 years. A total of 94 children were randomly assigned to teacher-led, teacher-guide…
Medicine (13 works) · Psychology (13 works) · Children's Physical and Motor Development (10 works) · Physical therapy (8 works) · Medical education (7 works) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (7 works) · Pedagogy (7 works) · Physical education (6 works) · Physical Education and Training Studies (6 works) · Physical fitness (6 works)