Workshop Slim2Gym for teachers

20 January 2012 Renate de Groot, researcher at CELSTEC, will give a presentation / workshop at the orientation day of KVLO-Thomas van Aquino. (KVLO is the Royal Association of Teachers Physical Education). She will explain the development of the brain of adolescents and will present two research projects into the effect of physical exercise on the functioning of the brain.

800 teachers physical education

The Orientation day of KVLO-Thomas 2012 takes place at the Fontys Sporthogeschool in Tilburg. The day’s theme is "Gym is smart" or "Smart in gym". The theme is discussed during the theme lunches. Before and after lunch the participant scan choose between 22 different workshops. The subject of the workshops varies between on one hand practical physical activities that can immediately be introduced in gym classes and on the other hand theoretical insights in actual themes in the world of physical exercise and sports. Traditionally the orientation day concludes with a spectacular demonstration. The organization expects about 800 participants, all teachers physical education.

Importance of gym classes

Renate de Groot leads two research projects that take place in schools of secondary education in Zuid-Limburg (the Netherlands).
Gym2Learn is an intervention study in which pupils of 3 vmbo receive a daily gym class. At the end of the semester the researchers measure the effects on school performance, cognitive performance, motivation and self assurance. 
For the GOALS study (Grootschalig Onderzoek naar Activiteiten van Limburgse Scholieren – Large Scale Research into the Activities of Limburg Schoolchildren) 500 boys and girls in secondary education wear an accelerometer. This instrument registers the amount and intensity of the pupils movements. These data are related to the same variables: school performance, cognitive performance, motivation and self assurance. In the workshop Renate de Groot presents these examples of scientific research projects and will discuss the importance of gym classes with the participants.