Physical education (PE) has long been championed as a lever for healthier, more active kids—but how much extra movement does PE really buy, and what happens once the weekend rolls around? A six-week study of 221 U.S. middle school students wearing wrist accelerometers offers some clear signals for teachers, parents, and policymakers. Below is a concise look at the findings, followed by a deeper dive into the results and discussion. 

Physical education is more than games and movement—it’s about equipping students with the knowledge and habits for lifelong health. But here’s the hard truth: many in-service PE teachers lack the foundational knowledge to teach health-related fitness effectively. A recent study published in the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education by Jose Santiago and colleagues shines a spotlight on this issue, and the findings should make every PE teacher and teacher educator pause.

How quickly can a student’s feelings about physical education (PE) change? In 2018 with some colleagues we set out to answer exactly that by following 221 U.S. middle‑schoolers through a six‑week fitness‑focused unit. Using the validated Student Attitude toward Physical Education (SAtPE) instrument, we captured attitudes at the start and end of the unit, then drilled into the numbers to see what moved—and who was most affected. Our findings offer guidance for PE teachers designing units that keep students engaged and active.   

In many countries, conversations about children’s well-being tend to focus on what happens inside school walls—curriculum, achievement, test scores, or learning loss. But what about the hours before school starts, after school ends, or the precious time between homework and bedtime? What about the space where culture, creativity, sport, friendship, and identity take shape?

In a recent episode of the Playing with Research in Health and Physical Education podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Michael Hemphill (UNC Greensboro) and Dr. Paul Wright (Northern Illinois University) about their recent article, “The Contribution of TPSR Scholarship and Practice to Social Justice.” Our discussion revisited the roots of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model while exploring how it continues to evolve in today’s educational landscape.

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!