Oftentimes, after implementing an Exergaming lab in the school setting, we seldom look back and see what the impact has been. Last fall, Motion Fitness installed an Exergaming lab that could accommodate 20 students at Lincoln M.S. in FortCollins, Colorado. Our goal in conducting a survey six months after the installation was to capture student and faculty reactions regarding the success of the intervention. The following is a narrative the survey results.
Student reactions have been very positive. The results show that students are overwhelmingly appreciative of the lab. The one concern they shared was in wanting more time to access the lab.
Staff continues to grow in their appreciation of having the lab in their school. A number of teachers are supporting and using the lab on a regular basis, and there are others who like the lab but have trouble finding time to provide their students an opportunity to use the lab.
Special Programs use the lab most regularly. Teachers report how well their students perform in class after using the lab, as well as how motivated they are to earn use of the lab as an incentive. One teacher called her class a “reading frenzy” after incentivizing the use of the lab. Another teacher noted that all of her students had increased assessment scores when they used the lab before testing. The special teachers have continued to collect data on how the use of the lab has impacted behavior issues. After one semester of utilizing the lab, office referrals not only decreased by 37% but the severity of the incidents that were referred was also less.
In marketing their school, they have had articles in the local newspaper, on the district TV channel, and an interview on a local radio station. All marketing has been extremely supportive and has led to a significant increase in interest from their community in the lab and how it is used. There is a group of parents who are so inspired by the impact the lab has had on students that they are wanting to expand it and have it available full-time to students next year. They are beginning to explore grant options to staff the lab
Their after-school their 21st Century Grant tutoring program, Dominate, continues to do well. Students are regularly showing up for after-school homework help since the use of the Exerlearning lab was combined with tutoring/study hall. Teachers working in the after-school program have been surprised with the number of work students are willingly wanting to complete and how focused they are after using the lab.
The counselor reporting feels that the lab has been nothing but positive for the school. It has created excitement, and energy, and the community seems to embrace the idea of the lab. He believes that their work with the lab this year will only help to expand its use and increase knowledge of the positive effects of additional physical activity.