Article Review: Academic Incentives for Students Can Increase Participation in and Effectiveness of a Physical Activity Program

This article, Academic incentives for students can increase participation in and effectiveness of a physical activity program Per Julie DeVahl, PT, MS; Richard King, PhD; Jon W. Williamson, PhD. Journal of American College Health Volume 53, Issue 6, May/June 2005, pages 295-299, discusses whether academic incentives factor into a students behavior when it comes to physical fitness classes. They were curious to know if students were offered bonus points for decreasing their body fat percentage, would they be more likely to participate. There were 210 students randomly chosen for the experiment and they were divided into two groups. One group received bonus points that were applied to a test, known as the SEB (single exam bonus), and the others received points that went onto their final class grade, known as the CGB (course grade bonus).

Once the students, who were physical therapy students, were assigned to the groups, it was totally voluntary whether they wanted to participate in the program or not. There was not a significant difference in the groups of how many decided not to participate, the SEB group had 17 people whom did not participate and the CGB group had 12. The students who chose to participate were given a four site skin fold measure at the abdomen, thigh, supriliac, and triceps and were measured in the same way after the twelve week program to measure the difference. Students were considered to be part of the program if they exercised consistently for 6 months with moderate intensity three to five days a week.

As expected, the students who were given the greater incentive, those who received points on their final average instead of on a single exam, were more likely to succeed in losing body fat. They were also less likely to drop out of the program, of the CGB group 27% dropped out and in the SEB group had a dropout rate of 44%. There was no noticeable difference in gender, the four key factors that were important to body fat loss were: the initial body fat percentage prior to the start of the program, prior history of exercise participation, assignment to one of the two groups, and current physical activity participation beginning before the program was initiated.

I think that the findings of the program were very reasonable. I took a physical education class in college in which we received more credit if we attended outside of gym class and since I knew it would help my final grade, I was more willing to find time to go. I don't think however, that it was a fair sample if they were trying to generalize college students into this experiment. They used only students majoring in physical therapy, they are interested in people's health and wellbeing so I would assume they would be interested in their own health and that would become an outside factor effecting the program. If people were doing well in the class already, they wouldn't need the extra points, so some people may have felt that it wasn't necessary for them to participate.