Heather Erwin
Biographic Data
| ID | 6685697 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Heather Erwin |
| GIVEN NAMES | Heather |
| FAMILY NAME | Erwin |
| SIGNATURE | ERWIN H |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Kentucky |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5652-9331 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Chasing rainbows
Despite the central importance of school leadership in the successful implementation of new programs, little research has explored administrators’ views concerning whole-of-school physical activity (PA) initiatives, which can support students’ academic performance and healthy development. A critical knowledge gap exists in the context of secondary education, where whole-of-school PA implementation may face nuanced challenges. The purpose of this …
Measurement Instruments When Comparing Academic Performance and Physical Activity
Physical Education Response to Intervention
Response to Intervention (RTI) has become prevalent in education recently, while the time youth spend being physically active has consistently decreased. Given the known physical, mental, and cognitive benefits of regular physical activity and the time youth spend in school, this article explores the use of increased physical education (PE) time as an RTI strategy to enhance students’ overall physical activity, academic achievement, behavior, and…
Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise’s Impact on Cognitive Functions in Eighth Grade Students
The present study examined the impact of aerobic and anaerobic exercise on cognitive abilities in eighth grade students at one middle school in southeastern US. It is known that youth do not meet recommended physical activity levels, yet there is research demonstrating a clear connection between aerobic exercise and academic performance. There is a gap in evidence regarding anaerobic exercise and cognitive capabilities. If professionals know whic…
Don’t Be Afraid to Just Dance
In my experience, the word dance in physical education has been somewhat of a taboo. Many physical education teachers either choose not to teach dance at all because they do not feel comfortable with it or they struggle to find ways to teach it properly to their students. The teaching dance for understanding (TDfU) model completely changed my perspective not only on how to teach dance but also on how I can connect it to the physical education sta…
Using Technology to Understand Students’ Optimal Challenges and Promote Intrinsic Motivation in Physical Education
Youth are inactive in today’s world. Integrating autonomy, competence, and relatedness into Physical Education objectives to provide optimally challenging tasks for students may be an effective approach to making them love physical activity. Optimal challenge, or the challenge level of the task matches the student’s competence, can provide them with the greatest sense of competence, satisfaction, and/or pleasure. It presents one adaptive intrinsi…
Teaching Strategies for Motivating Students to Participate in Physical Activity
While physical education class is intended to be fun, getting students to motivate themselves to participate in activities is challenging. This study aims to provide meaningful strategies to promote physical activity in the classroom while meeting all students’ needs. The target population is middle physical education teachers. The following components will be discussed: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The strategies we offer will supply t…
Coordinated Approach
BACKGROUND: Schools play a vital role in student health, and a collaborative approach may affect health factors such as physical activity (PA) and nutrition. There is a lack of recent literature synthesizing collaborative approaches in K-12 settings. We present updated evidence about interventions that used a coordinated school health approach to support K-12 student PA and nutrition in the United States. METHODS: A 2-phase literature review sear…
Physical Activity During the School Day
A plethora of research has been conducted on physical activity (PA) during the school day as part of a CSPAP. Classroom activity, recess, and other school day opportunities such as active transitions, school-wide movement breaks, and drop-ins provide valuable opportunities for students to reach recommended levels of PA. In addition to the health benefits from engaging in PA during this time and decreasing bouts of sedentary behavior, positive out…
Authentic Learning Through Peak Conditions in Secondary Physical Education
Authentic learning in physical education (PE) is one of many tools to promote lifelong movement through meaningful experiences. Self-Determination Theory is tied to authentic learning through student connection in PE and authentic learning. Teachers can become facilitators of authentic learning experiences through embracing a shift in power dynamics in the classroom by inviting students to make decisions about what and how they learn in PE. To as…
Exploring classroom teachers’ efficacy towards implementing physical activity breaks in the classroom
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine classroom teachers’ self-efficacy towards, and perceptions of, physical activity in the classroom. Design: The study is a convergent mixed-methods design in which both qualitative and quantitative data were collected simultaneously at one time point. Setting: A convenience sample was recruited through email from two school districts to participate in an online survey and follow-up phone interv…
Examining high school student perceptions of physical education
The current case study was designed to seek out incoming high school students’ perceptions of physical education (PE) and how students felt former PE teachers influenced their perceptions. The study was conducted at a high school in the United States and included semi-structured focus group interviews of 25 students. The results indicated that students have a mix of positive and negative perceptions of PE and reported that the purpose of PE was t…
Motivating High School Students With PRAISE
Beni, Fletcher, and Chróinín examined meaningfulness in PE and suggested five common threads: social interaction, fun, challenge, motor competence, and personally relevant information. Similarly, these threads have been described using the acronym P.R.A.I.S.E. PRAISE stands for Perceived competence, Relatedness, Autonomy, Individuality, Social support, and Enjoyment. This article will describe how to use the PRAISE acronym as a tool to help make …
Lessons Learned From Covid-19
The aim of this article is to provide solutions to the problems experienced by teachers during this period and most importantly, to provide strategies that will be beneficial in shaping the post-COVID-19 education system. Specifically, instruction, curriculum, and technology are addressed. We believe that nothing may be the same, but lessons learned from the difficulties in delivering quality physical education during these tumultuous times may a…
“Happy, Healthy, and Smart”
BACKGROUND: Over 1 in 3 children in US schools is overweight or obese; thus, most teachers believe physical education and activity are necessary K-12 components. One potential avenue to infuse physical activity (PA) in educational settings is integrating in classrooms based on learning objectives and academic outcomes. In this study, we examined student emotion through the use of the Walking Classroom (WC) learning platform. METHODS: Students fro…
Integrating movement in academic classrooms
In the context of comprehensive and coordinated approaches to school health, academic classrooms have gained attention as a promising setting for increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary time among children. The aims of this paper are to review the rationale and knowledge base related to movement integration in academic classrooms, consider the practical applications of current knowledge to interventions and teacher education, and sugg…
School day segmented physical activity patterns of high and low active children
HIGH active children achieved significantly more MPA and VPA than LOW active during four of the five segments of the school day when analyses were adjusted for potential correlates. Physical activity promotion strategies targeting low active children during discretionary physical activity segments of the day, and particularly via structured afterschool physical activity programs may be beneficial
Physical Fitness and Academic Achievement in Third- and Fifth-Grade Students
The relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement has received much attention owing to the increasing prevalence of children who are overweight and unfit, as well as the inescapable pressure on schools to produce students who meet academic standards. This study examined 259 public school students in third and fifth grades and found that field tests of physical fitness were positively related to academic achievement. Specifically,…
Examining high school student perceptions of physical education
The current case study was designed to seek out incoming high school students’ perceptions of physical education (PE) and how students felt former PE teachers influenced their perceptions. The study was conducted at a high school in the United States and included semi-structured focus group interviews of 25 students. The results indicated that students have a mix of positive and negative perceptions of PE and reported that the purpose of PE was t…
Physical Fitness and Academic Achievement in Third- and Fifth-Grade Students
The relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement has received much attention owing to the increasing prevalence of children who are overweight and unfit, as well as the inescapable pressure on schools to produce students who meet academic standards. This study examined 259 public school students in third and fifth grades and found that field tests of physical fitness were positively related to academic achievement. Specifically,…
School day segmented physical activity patterns of high and low active children
HIGH active children achieved significantly more MPA and VPA than LOW active during four of the five segments of the school day when analyses were adjusted for potential correlates. Physical activity promotion strategies targeting low active children during discretionary physical activity segments of the day, and particularly via structured afterschool physical activity programs may be beneficial
Integrating movement in academic classrooms
In the context of comprehensive and coordinated approaches to school health, academic classrooms have gained attention as a promising setting for increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary time among children. The aims of this paper are to review the rationale and knowledge base related to movement integration in academic classrooms, consider the practical applications of current knowledge to interventions and teacher education, and sugg…
Motivating High School Students With PRAISE
Beni, Fletcher, and Chróinín examined meaningfulness in PE and suggested five common threads: social interaction, fun, challenge, motor competence, and personally relevant information. Similarly, these threads have been described using the acronym P.R.A.I.S.E. PRAISE stands for Perceived competence, Relatedness, Autonomy, Individuality, Social support, and Enjoyment. This article will describe how to use the PRAISE acronym as a tool to help make …
Lessons Learned From Covid-19
The aim of this article is to provide solutions to the problems experienced by teachers during this period and most importantly, to provide strategies that will be beneficial in shaping the post-COVID-19 education system. Specifically, instruction, curriculum, and technology are addressed. We believe that nothing may be the same, but lessons learned from the difficulties in delivering quality physical education during these tumultuous times may a…
“Happy, Healthy, and Smart”
BACKGROUND: Over 1 in 3 children in US schools is overweight or obese; thus, most teachers believe physical education and activity are necessary K-12 components. One potential avenue to infuse physical activity (PA) in educational settings is integrating in classrooms based on learning objectives and academic outcomes. In this study, we examined student emotion through the use of the Walking Classroom (WC) learning platform. METHODS: Students fro…
Physical Activity During the School Day
A plethora of research has been conducted on physical activity (PA) during the school day as part of a CSPAP. Classroom activity, recess, and other school day opportunities such as active transitions, school-wide movement breaks, and drop-ins provide valuable opportunities for students to reach recommended levels of PA. In addition to the health benefits from engaging in PA during this time and decreasing bouts of sedentary behavior, positive out…
Authentic Learning Through Peak Conditions in Secondary Physical Education
Authentic learning in physical education (PE) is one of many tools to promote lifelong movement through meaningful experiences. Self-Determination Theory is tied to authentic learning through student connection in PE and authentic learning. Teachers can become facilitators of authentic learning experiences through embracing a shift in power dynamics in the classroom by inviting students to make decisions about what and how they learn in PE. To as…
Exploring classroom teachers’ efficacy towards implementing physical activity breaks in the classroom
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine classroom teachers’ self-efficacy towards, and perceptions of, physical activity in the classroom. Design: The study is a convergent mixed-methods design in which both qualitative and quantitative data were collected simultaneously at one time point. Setting: A convenience sample was recruited through email from two school districts to participate in an online survey and follow-up phone interv…
Examining high school student perceptions of physical education
The current case study was designed to seek out incoming high school students’ perceptions of physical education (PE) and how students felt former PE teachers influenced their perceptions. The study was conducted at a high school in the United States and included semi-structured focus group interviews of 25 students. The results indicated that students have a mix of positive and negative perceptions of PE and reported that the purpose of PE was t…
Don’t Be Afraid to Just Dance
In my experience, the word dance in physical education has been somewhat of a taboo. Many physical education teachers either choose not to teach dance at all because they do not feel comfortable with it or they struggle to find ways to teach it properly to their students. The teaching dance for understanding (TDfU) model completely changed my perspective not only on how to teach dance but also on how I can connect it to the physical education sta…
Using Technology to Understand Students’ Optimal Challenges and Promote Intrinsic Motivation in Physical Education
Youth are inactive in today’s world. Integrating autonomy, competence, and relatedness into Physical Education objectives to provide optimally challenging tasks for students may be an effective approach to making them love physical activity. Optimal challenge, or the challenge level of the task matches the student’s competence, can provide them with the greatest sense of competence, satisfaction, and/or pleasure. It presents one adaptive intrinsi…
Teaching Strategies for Motivating Students to Participate in Physical Activity
While physical education class is intended to be fun, getting students to motivate themselves to participate in activities is challenging. This study aims to provide meaningful strategies to promote physical activity in the classroom while meeting all students’ needs. The target population is middle physical education teachers. The following components will be discussed: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The strategies we offer will supply t…
Coordinated Approach
BACKGROUND: Schools play a vital role in student health, and a collaborative approach may affect health factors such as physical activity (PA) and nutrition. There is a lack of recent literature synthesizing collaborative approaches in K-12 settings. We present updated evidence about interventions that used a coordinated school health approach to support K-12 student PA and nutrition in the United States. METHODS: A 2-phase literature review sear…
Physical Education Response to Intervention
Response to Intervention (RTI) has become prevalent in education recently, while the time youth spend being physically active has consistently decreased. Given the known physical, mental, and cognitive benefits of regular physical activity and the time youth spend in school, this article explores the use of increased physical education (PE) time as an RTI strategy to enhance students’ overall physical activity, academic achievement, behavior, and…
Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise’s Impact on Cognitive Functions in Eighth Grade Students
The present study examined the impact of aerobic and anaerobic exercise on cognitive abilities in eighth grade students at one middle school in southeastern US. It is known that youth do not meet recommended physical activity levels, yet there is research demonstrating a clear connection between aerobic exercise and academic performance. There is a gap in evidence regarding anaerobic exercise and cognitive capabilities. If professionals know whic…
Measurement Instruments When Comparing Academic Performance and Physical Activity
Chasing rainbows
Despite the central importance of school leadership in the successful implementation of new programs, little research has explored administrators’ views concerning whole-of-school physical activity (PA) initiatives, which can support students’ academic performance and healthy development. A critical knowledge gap exists in the context of secondary education, where whole-of-school PA implementation may face nuanced challenges. The purpose of this …
Children's Physical and Motor Development (15 works) · Psychology (15 works) · Medicine (14 works) · Physical Education and Pedagogy (11 works) · Pedagogy (9 works) · Mathematics education (8 works) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (7 works) · Physical activity (7 works) · Physical education (7 works) · Medical education (6 works)