Background/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of PBL strategy integrating into physical fitness lessons on physical activity level, fitness knowledge, and critical thinking for high school students.
Method: A hundred and sixty-eight high school students and their teachers from four classes participated in this study. 88 Students from two classes were assigned as an experimental group receiving the PBL strategy integrating into physical fitness lessons, and 88 students from other two classes were designed as the control group receiving the traditional teaching strategy. The classes were organized twice a week and each class was fifty minutes long for ten weeks. Students in both groups administered the Digital Mini Pedometer, fitness knowledge test, and Critical Thinking Test-Level test before and after class. The One-way ANCOVA and Regression were utilized to analyze the data.
Analysis/Results: The results showed that the PBL strategy integrating into physical fitness lessons could effectively improve physical activity level, fitness knowledge, and critical thinking for high school students. There was a significantly positive relationship between physical activity level, fitness knowledge, assumptions, induction, deduction, and explanation in the experimental group, but not in the control group. There was 26% of variation of the induction, recognition of assumptions, and fitness knowledge of students' physical activity levels can be effectively predicted.
Conclusions: Students in the experimental group reported that this PBL strategy integrating into physical fitness lessons had helped them to promote their physical activity levels, understanding of fitness knowledge, and development of critical thinking.