INCREASING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS DURING THE COVID-19 THROUGH EXERGAME

Abstract

Study purpose. The low physical activity and fundamental movement skills of students in the COVID-19 era are gaps in this study. This study aims to exam the effects of exergame on the physical activity and fundamental movement skills of students during the COVID-19 era. Materials and methods. Quantitative research with experimental methods was used in this study. The subjects of this study came from students at primary schools 1 and 2 in Karawang (n = 120). Subjects from primary school 1 Karawang entered the experimental group (n = 60), namely getting treatment in the form of exergame, and subjects from primary school 2 Karawang were included in the control group (n = 60) who did not receive any treatment and only carried out physical education learning activities. The intervention program was carried out for seven weeks. To measure the physical activity of the students, the ActiGraph GT9X Link accelerometer was used, and the fundamental movement skills of the children were assessed using the TGMD-3. Results. The results showed that the implementation of exergame was proven to significantly improve physical activity (p < 0.05) and the same results show that exergame has a significant effect on fundamental movement skills (p < 0.05). However, there was no increase in physical activity and fundamental movement skills in the control group (p > 0.05). Conclusions. This research is evidence that exergame is an effective tool to improve physical activity and fundamental movement skills students during the COVID-19 era.