Girls of color growing up in low-income, urban neighborhoods face stacked inequities—limited safe places to move, fewer academic supports, and higher exposure to violence. After-school sport programs grounded in Positive Youth Development (PYD) theory are one promising antidote, yet we still know too little about how girls themselves actually experience these spaces. We (Johnston, Marttinen, Fredrick, and Bhat 2019) set out to change that by spending an academic year inside REACH—a basketball-based, literacy-infused PYD program for 4th and 5th-grade girls in New York City. We approached this through a qualitative case study and followed 12 participants (five core attendees) across weekly 90-minute sessions, gathering field notes, journals, and interviews to pinpoint the processes that shaped the girls’ experiences​​. 

For years, there’s been a quiet but powerful shift taking root in physical education (PE)—a move away from seeing our work as simply about fitness, physical literacy, or health outcomes, and toward something much deeper. In the case for this podcast and blog we highlight human flourishing. This shift challenges us to consider PE not just as movement instruction, but as moral and educational practice that helps young people live well and act well.

When wearable devices first appeared in physical education (PE) classes, many teachers hoped they would spark lasting motivation. But do students actually see value in strapping on an accelerometer and doing homework for “gym”? A mixed-methods study by Marttinen and colleagues explored just that, examining 221 U.S. middle schoolers who completed a 12-lesson “Fitness Integrated with Technology” (F.I.T.) unit built around MOVband wrist accelerometers. Thirteen students were later interviewed to capture their voices. Here’s what the research tells us. ​ 

In this episode of Playing with Research in Health and Physical Education, Dr. Risto Marttinen sits down with Dr. Ben Kern from the University of Wyoming to discuss an ambitious and practical initiative known as the School Health Map. This collaborative effort, developed alongside colleagues like Wes Wilson (University of Illinois), Chad Killian (University of New Hampshire), Lisa Paulson (University of Minnesota-Duluth), David Woo (University of Utah), Tristan Wallhead (University of Wyoming), and Hans van der Mars (Arizona State University), aims to help advance the health and well-being of students by empowering educators, researchers, and health professionals with the data and tools needed to advocate for strong, equitable, and comprehensive school health policies.

If you’re a graduate student trying to navigate the exciting world of physical education research, I have some fantastic news for you. We are officially launching the AERA SIG93 Graduate Student Network!

To shed light on the review and journal publishing process, I recently spoke with editors from some of the leading journals in our field: the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education (JTPE), Quest, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy (PESP), and Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education. This blog covers the structure and scope of the journals as well as their views on AI, open access, and myriad other topics.

For educators and community partners, REACH offers a replicable template: pair a strength-based PYD framework with sport skills, embed character education in every drill, and protect the gym door—both literally and figuratively. In doing so, we can help young people “shoot for” safer, healthier lives, whether or not they ever hear their name on draft night. 

Starting a career in higher education is both exciting and daunting. For those in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE), the path to becoming a faculty member is shaped by a complex process of faculty socialization—the way we learn the norms, values, and expectations of the academic profession. A recent scoping review led by Dr. Nicolette Suchon, now at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, sheds light on how this process unfolds and what challenges—and opportunities—emerge along the way

The study underscores a simple truth: if your athletes are new to the weight room, almost any wellcoached bilateral lower-body lift will spark rapid adaptations. The dramatic improvements in both hip thrust and squat strength (≈30 % or more) reflect motor learning gains as much as muscular development, typical in novices

AI in education isn’t about choosing yes or no. It’s about asking how—how can we use these tools to empower students, elevate teaching, and preserve the distinctly human elements of learning? The sooner we lean into that question, the better prepared we’ll be.