Enhancing Middle School Science Lessons with Playground Activities: A Study of the Impact of Playground Physics
Friedman, Lawrence B.; Margolin, Jonathan; Swanlund, Andrew; Dhillon, Sonica; Liu, Feng (2017). American Institutes for Research. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED574773
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examining1,144Students, grades5-8
Department-funded evaluation
Review Details
Reviewed: December 2021
- Department-funded evaluation (findings for Playground Physics)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a cluster randomized controlled trial with high cluster-level attrition, but the analytic intervention and comparison groups satisfy the baseline equivalence requirement.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Playground physics student survey - Intrinsic motivation scale (researcher-developed) |
Playground Physics vs. Business as usual |
2 Weeks |
Full sample;
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N/A |
N/A |
No |
-- |
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Playground physics student survey - Engagement scale (researcher-developed) |
Playground Physics vs. Business as usual |
2 Weeks |
Full sample;
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N/A |
N/A |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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6% English language learners -
Female: 47%
Male: 53% -
Urban
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New York
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Race Black 14% Other or unknown 68% White 18% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 33% Not Hispanic or Latino 67%
Study Details
Setting
The study takes place in 60 middle schools in New York City. The teachers were recruited from 48 NYC public schools and two charter schools.
Study sample
The student sample was 53% female, 47% male, 13% black, 33% Hispanic, 18% white, 35% another race/ethnicity. Six percent of the sample were English language learners.
Intervention Group
The Playground Physics curriculum highlights the principles of physics that are present in different types of playground experiences. The curriculum makes play the focus of learning and uses a series of structured lessons to present the physics concepts in a formal way. Playground Physics includes an app developed by The New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) as part of its suite of Digital Noticing Tools™. The iOS-based Playground Physics app allows students to record videos of each other engaging in playground-type play and then to review these videos through three different lenses designed to highlight the physics principles of motion, force (Newton’s third law), and energy (respectively). The Playground Physics activity guide supports teacher instruction focused on motion, force, and energy while using the Playground Physics iOS app. For each unit, the teacher guide includes a review of the content knowledge in that unit as well as common student misconceptions about the topic. During professional development, teachers explore the concepts of energy, motion, and force and practice how they might use the Playground Physics app and activity guide to engage their students in science learning. The program was implemented during the 2015-2016 school year. The New York Hall of Science provided professional development in the program during fall 2015, as well as program materials (specifically, the app and activity guide) to the teachers assigned to the intervention group.
Comparison Group
The teachers in the comparison condition were asked to teach topics of motion, force, and energy using their regular curriculum. Teachers engaged in business-as-usual instruction and participated in business-as-usual professional development. Teachers likely taught as they had in the past.
Support for implementation
The teachers in the intervention group received professional development and a class activity guide, as well as curriculum materials.
Grant Competition
Review Details
Reviewed: November 2017
- Grant Competition (findings for Physics Playground Activities)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a randomized control trial with cluster level inferences and joiners, but it demonstrates baseline equivalence.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
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Physics knowledge assessment |
Physics Playground Activities vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
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N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
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Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
-
6% English language learners -
Female: 53%
Male: 47% -
Urban
-
- B
- A
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- I
- H
- J
- K
- L
- P
- M
- N
- O
- Q
- R
- S
- V
- U
- T
- W
- X
- Z
- Y
- a
- h
- i
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- g
- j
- k
- l
- m
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- s
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- w
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New York
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Race Black 13% Other or unknown 35% White 18% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 33%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in 50 (48 public schools and 2 charter) New York City middle schools. Each teacher taught between 1 and 5 classes and had between 1 and 26 students per class.
Study sample
The authors do not report sample characteristics for the analytic sample, however they do present demographics for a partial samples. For a sample of 845 students presented, 53% were female, 47% male, 13% Black, 33% Hispanic, 18% White, 35% of other ethnicity, 6% English language learner, 12% students with disabilities, and 67% low SES.
Intervention Group
Playground Physics' goal is to help students learn about force, energy, and motion to promote greater physics understanding. The intervention includes the Playground Physics app, accompanying curriculum, and teacher professional development. The app is iOS compatible. The curriculum is aligned with New York State Learning Standards, Common Core State Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards. The 9-hours of professional development were delivered in two sessions where developers demonstrated the use of the app, discussed the curriculum, discussed how the curriculum could be integrated into instruction; and teachers practiced using the app, and role played as learners experiencing the curriculum.
Comparison Group
The comparison group teachers used their business-as-usual curriculum and then were given the Playground Physics professional development and app to use the following year (June 2016).
Support for implementation
As part of the intervention, teachers were provided with two days of professional development in integrating Playground Physics in their classrooms.
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