Browsing by Author "Hänninen, Matias"

Children are typically divided into different groups based on their age. At school children in the same class are mostly born within twelve months of each other. Based on their date of birth older children have a developmental advantage on younger children. In previous studies this has been named as the relative age effect. The purpose of this study is to discover whether the relative age effect is seen in the physical education grades of sixth grade students. The second interest of the study is to gather information from physical education teachers regarding grading criteria, and to debate whether the teachers beliefs about assessment account for the appearance of the relative age effect. Earlier studies indicate that older students of a class get better physical education grades than younger students This study used quantitative and qualitative research methods. Using quantitative methods the physical education grades of students from three schools in Helsinki were gathered. A discretionary sample was made up of 249 students, of which 127 were females and 122 males. The participating students had their average physical education grades and deviation calculated using the SPSS-statistics program. In addition the statistical probability of birth quarter and gender group was calculated using average physical education grades. An analysis of variance (Anova) was used here. In the qualitative portion five physical education teachers gave an insight into grading physical education. The methods used here were a phenomenographic approach and the material was gathered using an open thematic interview. The results of the study show that the relative age effect can be observed in the physical education grades of the sample group. Children born between October and December had lower grades in both gender and statistically their averages deviated significantly or very significantly compared to older children. From interviews conducted with physical education teachers some conclusions can be made that grading methods and criteria favour physically more developed students and those with better exercise skills. The results of the study show that the relative age effect needs wider studying so that the effects can be mitigated in the future.