BallMatics Program - Basketball Court as a Middle-school Math Classroom: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Sport has a plethora of documented benefits, and evidence suggests that physical activity can significantly improve academic abilities of students. I propose that sports-based mathematic programming can support academic advancement of youths by actively embedding sports into academic mathematics programming. In this study, a mixed-methods design with one intervention group of 19 middle school youths participating in a movement-based mathematics afterschool program, called BallMatics, was delivered for ten weeks. Qualitative methods were employed to learn about participants’ academic identities and their perceived experience in the movement-based mathematics program. Thematic analyses based on social cognitive theory (SCT) revealed several recurring themes. Paired-samples t-tests demonstrated statistically significant increase in participants’ math knowledge and self-efficacy. Findings revealed increased participant engagement in mathematics content taught, motivation to complete mathematics tasks, eliciting of positive emotions and positive associations with mathematics.