Motor adaptability through motor challenge-based learning in six-year-old schoolchildren
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55040/z5yw7b65Keywords:
motor adaptability, challenge-based learning, physical education, students, motor developmentAbstract
Ecuadorian Physical Education requires pedagogical approaches that foster motor adaptability; however, traditional technique-centered methods continue to predominate, limiting the integration of motor, cognitive, emotional, and social development in young learners. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the Motor Challenge-Based Learning Model (MCBLM) on motor adaptability among six-year-old students enrolled in private educational institutions in Quito, Ecuador, during the second academic term of the 2025–2026 school year. A quantitative quasi-experimental design was employed with a sample of 282 six-year-old students. The experimental group received twelve Physical Education sessions structured according to the MCBLM, while the control group followed a traditional instructional approach. Motor adaptability was assessed using the Motor Adaptability Observation Scale for Six-Year-Old Students (EOAM-6). The experimental group improved from 11.39 to 15.47 points (Δ = +4.08), whereas the control group increased from 11.29 to 12.59 points (Δ = +1.30). ANCOVA revealed significant differences between groups [F(1,279) = 146.37, p < .001], with a large effect size (d = 1.44; η²p = .344). The findings indicate that the MCBLM significantly enhanced motor adaptability in six-year-old students, producing large and consistent effects across institutions and sexes. These results support its viability and scalability as an innovative pedagogical approach for early Physical Education.
References
Arufe-Giráldez, V., Sanmiguel-Rodríguez, A., Ramos-Álvarez, O., & Navarro-Patón, R. (2023). News of the Pedagogical Models in Physical Education—A Quick Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(3), 2586. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032586
Bores-García, D., Hortigüela-Alcalá, D., Fernandez-Rio, F. J., González-Calvo, G., & Barba-Martín, R. (2021). Research on Cooperative Learning in Physical Education: Systematic Review of the Last Five Years. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 92(1), 146–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2020.1719276
Chow, J. Y., Meerhoff, L. A., Choo, C. Z. Y., Button, C., & Tan, B. S.-J. (2023). The effect of nonlinear pedagogy on the acquisition of game skills in a territorial game. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1077065. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1077065
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2017). Research Methods in Education (8th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315456539
Creswell, J., & Creswell, D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.
Dane, A. V., & Schneider, B. H. (1998). Program integrity in primary and early secondary prevention: are implementation effects out of control? Clinical Psychology Review, 18(1), 23–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7358(97)00043-3
Davids, K., Button, C., & Bennett, S. (2008). Dynamics of skill acquisition: A constraints-led approach.
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive Functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64(1), 135–168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
Doulougeri, K., Vermunt, J. D., Bombaerts, G., & Bots, M. (2024). Challenge‐based learning implementation in engineering education: A systematic literature review. Journal of Engineering Education, 113(4), 1076–1106. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20588
Flores Aguilar, J., & Terán Cazares, M. M. (2022). validez de contenido de juicio por expertos en instrumento para medir la influencia de factores psicosociales en el estrés organizacional en empresas del giro hotelero. Compendium: Cuadernos de Economía y Administración, 9(3), 219. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/8736869.pdf
Gallagher, S. E., & Savage, T. (2023). Challenge-based learning in higher education: An exploratory literature review. Teaching in Higher Education, 28(6), 1135–1157. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1863354
Granda Lomas, B. P., Imbaquingo Erazo, K. N., Morillo Livicota, M. L., & Pulsara Díaz, L. F. (2026). Gamificación en las habilidades motrices básicas en estudiantes de segundo de Educación General Básica. MENTOR Revista de Investigación Educativa y Deportiva, 5(3), 60–71. https://doi.org/10.56200/mentor.v5i3.13041
Henderson, S., Sugden, D., & Barnett, A. (2007). Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2. Pearson.
Hernández, R., Fernández, C., & Baptista, P. (2014). Metodología de la investigación. McGraw-Hill.
Jara Almeida, C. E., Valdiviezo Fuentes, C. O., Benítez Quinche, V. B., & Salguero Rubio, R. X. (2025). Análisis comparativo de los métodos de enseñanza tradicionales y activos en educación física: Un estudio en unidades de educación básica. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15518536
Landis, J., & Koch, G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33(1), 159–174. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/843571/
López Acosta, D. J., & Guzmán Martínez, E. V. (2023). Análisis de contenidos y competencias específicas en educación física en diferentes niveles educativos. MENTOR Revista de Investigación Educativa y Deportiva, 2(6), 1199–1212. https://doi.org/10.56200/mried.v2i6.6521
Magnusson, T. (1978). Teoría de los Test. Editorial Trillas.
Malone, L. A., Vasudevan, E. V. L., & Bastian, A. J. (2011). Motor Adaptation Training for Faster Relearning. The Journal of Neuroscience, 31(42), 15136–15143. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1367-11.2011
Merino, C., & Livia, J. (2009). Intervalos de confianza asimétricos para el índice la validez de contenido: Un programa Visual Basic para la V de Aiken. Anales de Psicología, 25(11), 169–171. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2973711
Ministerio de Educación. (2021). Currículo Priorizado con énfasis en competencias. Ministerio de Educación. https://educacion.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2021/12/Curriculo-priorizado-con-enfasis-en-CC-CM-CD-CS_Elemental.pdf
Otzen, T., & Manterola, C. (2017). Técnicas de Muestreo sobre una Población a Estudio. International Journal of Morphology, 35(1), 227–232. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-95022017000100037
Parlebas, P. (2001). Juegos, deporte y sociedad: Léxico de praxiología motriz. Paidotribo.
Paz Maldonado, E. J. (2018). La ética en la investigación educativa. Revista Ciencias Pedagógicas e Innovación, 6(1), 45–51. https://doi.org/10.26423/rcpi.v6i1.219
Posso Pacheco, R. J., Arufe Giráldez, V., Aguinda Cajape, V. A., León Quinapallo, X. P., Marcillo Ñacato, J. C., Neto Villagomez, D. Y., & Romero Robinson, E. A. (2026). Aprendizaje basado en retos motrices: Fundamentación teórico-metodológica para Educación Física. Sportis. Scientific Journal of School Sport, Physical Education and Psychomotricity, 12(2), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.17979/sportis.2026.12.2.13295
Posso Pacheco, R. J., Pereira Valdez, M. J., Paz Viteri, B. S., & Rosero Duque, M. F. (2021). Gestión educativa: Factor clave en la implementación del currículo de educación física. Revista Venezolana de Gerencia, 26(5 Edición Especial), 232–247. https://doi.org/10.52080/rvgluz.26.e5.16
Posso-Pacheco, R. J. (2024). Transformando la Educación Física: Del tradicionalismo militar a un enfoque lúdico-inclusivo. MENTOR Revista de Investigación Educativa y Deportiva, 3(7), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.56200/mried.v3i7.7287
Posso-Pacheco, R. J., Paz-Viteri, B. S., Cóndor-Chicaiza, M. G., Marcillo Ñacato, J. C., & Ramos-Álvarez, O. (2023). Physical education by competencies in the South American context: Pedagogical perspectives and curricular approaches for the integral development of children. Environment and Social Psychology, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.54517/esp.v9i2.1950
Rasch, D., Verdooren, R., & Pilz, J. (2019). Applied Statistics: Theory and Problem Solutions with R (1st ed.). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119551584
Renshaw, I., & Chow, J.-Y. (2019). A constraint-led approach to sport and physical education pedagogy. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 24(2), 103–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2018.1552676
Richardson, J. T. E. (2011). Eta squared and partial eta squared as measures of effect size in educational research. Educational Research Review, 6(2), 135–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2010.12.001
Robledo-Rella, V., Neri, L., García-Castelán, R. M. G., Gonzalez-Nucamendi, A., Valverde-Rebaza, J., & Noguez, J. (2025). A comparative study of a new challenge-based learning model for engineering majors. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1545071. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1545071
Romero Caballero, S., Canquiz Rincón, L., Rodríguez Toscano, A., Valencia Pérez, A., & Moreno Gómez, G. (2025). Challenge-based learning and design thinking in higher education: Institutional strategies for linking experiential learning, innovation, and academic performance. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 62(2), 557–574. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2024.2326191
Ruiz-Pérez, L. M. (2022). Competencia motriz acuática: Una cuestión de edades. Revista de Investigación En Actividades Acuáticas, 1(1), 16–22. https://doi.org/10.21134/riaa.v1i1.390
Sanchez Cuevas, M., Pérez Restovic, R., & Fernández, J. A. (2019). Aprendizaje basado en retos: Propuesta educativa para la transformación social. Revista Internacional de Aprendizaje, 5(2), 117–126. https://doi.org/10.18848/2575-5544/CGP/v05i02/117-126
Schmidt, R. A. (1975). A schema theory of discrete motor skill learning. Psychological Review, 82(4), 225–260. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076770
Schmidt, R., & Wrisberg, C. (2008). Motor learning and performance. Human Kinetics.
Sérgio, M. (1999). Motricidad humana: Un nuevo paradigma. Instituto Piaget.
Simón-Chico, L., González-Peño, A., Hernández-Cuadrado, E., & Franco, E. (2023). The Impact of a Challenge-Based Learning Experience in Physical Education on Students’ Motivation and Engagement. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 13(4), 684–700. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe13040052
Thomas, J. R., & French, K. E. (1985). Gender differences across age in motor performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 260–282. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.260
Tyng, C. M., Amin, H. U., Saad, M. N. M., & Malik, A. S. (2017). The Influences of Emotion on Learning and Memory. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1454. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01454
Ulrich, D. (2020). Test of Gross Motor Development-2. Pro-Ed. Whitehead, M. (Ed.). (2010). Physical Literacy (0 ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203881903
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Richar Jacobo Posso-Pacheco, Henry Rodolfo Gutiérrez Cayo, Jorge Geovanny Tocto Lobato, Víctor Arufe Giráldez, Alida Bella Vallejo-López, Karolina Janeth Cando Brito, Edison Andrés Castro Pantoja (Autor/a)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The works published in this journal are subject to the following terms:
The author retains the economic rights (copyright) of the published works and grants the journal the right of first publication.
The works are published in the electronic edition of the journal under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike license. They may be copied, used, distributed, transmitted, and publicly displayed, provided that: (i) authorship and the original source of publication (journal, publisher, and URL of the work) are cited; (ii) they are not used for commercial purposes; (iii) the existence and specifications of this license are indicated.
Self-archiving conditions. Authors are permitted and encouraged to disseminate electronically the post-print versions (publisher’s version), as this facilitates earlier circulation and dissemination, potentially increasing citation and reach within the academic community. Authors may also deposit their articles in repositories and other platforms that support the dissemination of information, provided that the version used is the post-print (publisher’s version). RoMEO color: Blue.
