This summer, I had the opportunity undertake a PESS internship under the supervision of Prof. Elaine Murtagh and Dr. Brendan O’ Keeffe, exploring health-related activity (HRA) and how it can be integrated into other physical activity areas in the Junior Cycle curriculum.
As a 2nd year BSc Physical Education student embarking on my first school placement, teaching HRA was something that interested me, particularly due to the recommended ‘integrated’ approach as advised in the specification (NCCA, 2023).
The internship focused on exploring a novel approach for integrating HRA. The new specification brought about a change in the way that HRA is delivered at Junior Cycle. It states that, if HRA is to be delivered as one of the activity areas, it should be done so in an integrated manner, with other physical activity areas. This contrasts with the stand-alone strand that formed part of the previous curriculum (NCCA, 2023). Primary objectives of the internship included the design of 6-week integrated gymnastics and HRA unit of learning and to conduct a preliminary evaluation of student’s experiences of the approach.
The first stage of the internship was to develop a unit of learning and five accompanying lesson plans which integrated HRA into the physical activity area of gymnastics. I then taught the unit to two second year groups in my placement school, keeping a reflective log throughout. Data gathered from the students included class reflections, conversations, exit slips and interviews. After the implementation stage, we moved on to further research and data analysis. As a 2nd year student, research is something that I haven’t had any experience with. Because of this, some time was spent learning research-related skills and familiarizing myself with relevant literature. As the topic involved data collection, I was also faced with the new world of data coding and analysis! Under the extremely helpful guidance of both Elaine and Brendan, together we conducted thematic analysis of the dataset, while also curating the final edit of the resource pack which will include a unit of learning, lesson plans and classroom resources which will guide teachers on how they can approach HRA integration.
It has been interesting to work more closely with practitioner researchers like Elaine and Brendan and gain an insight into their research and work. We had several meetings throughout the research internship to ensure the methodological design proposed was followed and that the established timelines for deliverables were met. They were there whenever I had any questions and had academic papers on speed dial whenever I was stuck on a certain topic. The PESS Department was also extremely helpful throughout and a lot of the initial papers I went through to try and break down the world that is health research, were written by PESS staff, students and graduates; which really goes to show the great work that is done in PESS.
When I first began the internship, Elaine sent me an application form for an Erasmus+ programme that was taking place in the University of Porto, Portugal. The programme was in the area of physical activity for health, with a particular focus on measuring and evaluating health and performance-related activity. I applied for the course, and I was certainly glad that I did. I was accepted and less than two months later I was jetting off to beautiful Porto with fellow PESS student, PhD researcher Aoife Noonan. We spent two weeks in the city attending lectures, seminars and tutorials and participated in physical activity classes where we measured physical activity using different equipment such as accelerometers. I had the opportunity to connect with professionals from Portugal, Spain, Poland and Brazil, as well as students from eleven different European countries. Many of the University of Porto lecturers have worked with the staff in PESS, and it was interesting to hear about their work and connect with them.
Doing an internship in PESS has really opened my eyes to the world of research and it is something that I now have a huge interest in. To anybody considering applying for an internship, do it! It has been an invaluable experience for me, and I have learned so many things along the way. It is a brilliant way to explore the world of physical education and sport science outside of your course in an area you are interested in.
Alana Ní Chuinneagáin is a 3rd year student in the Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, UL.
PESS News & Information 