Okul Öncesi Çocuklarda Oyun Temelli Hareket Eğitimi Etkinliklerinin Algılanan Motor Yeterlik Düzeyleri Üzerine Etkisi

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of an 8-week (3 days/week) game-based movement education program on perceived motor skill competence in preschool children. First, a pre-study was carried out to determine whether the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence (PMSC) is a valid and reliable measurement tool for assessing perceived motor competence in Turkish children. The sample of pre-study consisted of 255 students (x̄age= 7.91, SD= 1.76 years), with 128 girls and 123 boys aged 5-10 years old. The standard translation-back translation and an expert panel were applied in the pre-study to adapt the scale to Turkish. First, the Pictorial scale of PMSC was administered to 255 children aged 5-10 years, followed by a re-administration of the scale to 40 randomly selected children one week later to determine the test-retest reliability. The confirmatory factor analysis performed to determine the construct validity of the scale showed that the scale had good fit index values (χ²/sd= 1.56; RMSEA= 0.048; TLI= 0.97; CFI= 0.97). In addition, the test-retest reliability analysis for the omega internal consistency coefficient (locomotor=0.95 - object control=0.93) and the intraclass correlation coefficient for the test-retest reliability of the scale (locomotor=0.69 - object control= 0.82) showed that both subscales were reliable. In the main study, we included 55 preschool children (x̄age= 5.2, SD= 0.20 years) who were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n= 29; x̄age= 5.2, SD= 0.20 years) and control group (n=26; x̄age= 5.15, SD= 0.35 years). The experimental group engaged in 8 weeks (30 min/day, 3 days/week) of a game-based movement education program developed by the research team, while the control group participated in the lessons in their curriculum for 8 weeks. The perceived motor competence of the experimental and control group was assessed with the Pictorial scale of PMSC before and after the game-based movement education program. After the 8 weeks of the game-based education program, perceived locomotor (mean difference (Δ)= 3.62; p = 0.001; partial eta squared (η2)= 0.177) and object control (Δ=5.03; p <0,001; η2 = 0.242) scores were significantly higher in the experimental group compared to the pretest, while pre and post perceived motor competence scores of the control group did not change (p > 0.05). Compared to the control group, perceived locomotor and object control skills scores were significantly higher in the experimental group following the game-based education program (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the findings of the study show that an 8-week game-based movement education program is an effective program to improve the perceived motor competence in preschool children.