Original article

Sport and Ludic Activities to Make Better Use of Leisure by Adolescents from the Modesto Carbo Noboa School

William Cicerón Palacios Sarmiento¹ 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7972-6853

Yury Douglas Barrios Palacios^{1  *} 
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6759-8076

¹Universidad de Guayaquil. Guayaquil, Ecuador

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

This paper deals with the issue of free time utilization by teenagers, arising from the lack of guidance into ludic and sport practice by 15-17-year-old adolescents at the Modesto Carbo Noboa School.

Aim:

To design a set of sport and ludic activities that foster better use of leisure by the adolescents at the Modesto Carbo Noboa School in Guayaquil.

Materials and methods:

The Delphi technique was used to design and evaluate a set of activities through the expert opinion method (adequate).

Results:

A high consensus was found on the pertinence of the three indicators, with favorable assessments (-0.20, -0.74, -0.22), between the 0.18 and -1.02 cohorts.

Conclusions:

The pertinence of the proposal and its practical application, and the proposal of sport and ludic activities, favored the development of the environmental dimension associated with the physical-sport-recreational activity.

Keywords: sport-ludic activity; free time; adolescents

INTRODUCTION

Sport-ludic activities can develop balance motor sensations, optical sensations, and touch sensations. Sport-ludic activities help develop perceptions, representations, thinking, memory, interests, feelings, and convictions, which must be properly organized and particularized when dealing with pregnant women. Likewise, the utilization of sport-ludic activities develops optical, acoustic, and kinesthetic representations that favor the development of motor memory.

Besides, according to ^{Báez and Leyva (2022}, p. 454), “The development of motor skills is tightly linked to thinking”. The acquisition of these skills and the actions of the components of each objective and task are only possible thanks to the systematic repetition of all the movements enabled by physical exercise. The simplest of them is realized through the bond created between thinking and the sensations of the movement form; that is, representations and self-perceptive sensations.

Ludic activity has very complex nature and functions, so a unique theoretical explanation for it is not possible. Either because it is dealt with with different rationales or because authors focus on different aspects of its reality. The fact is that quite a few explanations have been provided throughout history about its nature and role in human life. Ludic comes from Latin ludus, which means belonging to or relative to game. Gaming is ludic, but not all ludic is gaming. Ludic projects itself as a human development dimension.

Games as a teaching aid have an ancient origin; they were used in the primitive community empirically to develop skills in children and the young to learn how to hunt, fish, grow, etc., which were passed on from generation to generation. Moreover, ^{Almeida, A., & Cerezo, J. (2020)} noted that games are linked to human existence; consequently, there has been interest in the different physical manifestations of humans by the different areas of knowledge, especially history, anthropology, and sociology.

^{Vygotsky (1989)}, said that games were not the predominant activity during infancy, as children use more time to solve more real than imaginary activities. However, ludic activity is the driving force of development, since it creates proximal development zones continuously, and in that interaction, language is the main instrument of cultural transmission and education, though there are other aids that enable the child-adult interaction.

Not only important is the role of games to enhance the intellectual capacity, but also because they promotes other human values, such as affectivness, sociability, motricity, and others. Knowledge cannot be acquired without an overall experience that engages the full personality of learners. It has been published in similar papers by ^{(Bermejo, R. & Blázquez, T., 2016}; ^{Castro, L., Robles, K. 2018}; ^{Lucas, R., Berges, J., Villalva, G., Martin, F. 2019} & ^{Payà, A., 2020)}.

It is linked to creativity, problem solution, language development or the social roles. In other words, numerous cognitive and social phenomena. It also has a clear educational function, as it helps develop motor, mental, social, affective, and emotional capacities, in addition to stimulating interest and the observation and exploration spirit to learn about the surroundings.

The practice of sport and ludic activities during free time is a permanently dealt with issue by researchers in the area of physical education and sports, ^{Hernández Aguilar, B., Chávez Cevallos, E., de la Concepción Torres Marín, J., Torres Ramírez, A., & Fleitas Díaz, I. M. (2017).; Casquete, M. (2021)}, studied it in contexts involving schools and communities. It not only was used to evaluate the psychic effects of a particular proposal, but also to set the boundaries of the extents and shortcomings of the proposal, to correct possible problems and enhance implicit positive variables.

In terms of cognitive development, several studies of ludic activities have confirmed that games are the basis of cognitive development in adolescents, as they build knowledge through their experiences, which is essentially understood as activity, and seen as games in the early ages.

As a transcendental learning tool for life and about life, it is a significant educational aid, which requires a conscious and reflexive didactic intervention to enhance educational performance, and must be directed to, permitting overall growth and development while experiencing pleasure and amusement. Becoming a way of learning about cooperative behavior, favoring situations of personal responsibility, support, and respect for the others.

Enabling challenging situations that can be overcome.

• Avoiding sport-ludic activities led by the same subjects, thus diversifying the games and placing more relevance on the process than the end result.

• Providing experiences that broaden and deepen previous knowledge and skills.

• Providing opportunities to play by couples, small groups, with adults, or individually.

• Game partners, ludic spaces or areas, game materials, game time, and games assessed by those familiar to them.

Sport ludic activities used to develop capacities through active and affective student engagement, making significant learning a pleasant experience. Didactic games must correspond to the teaching objectives, contents, and methods, and must adjust to the indications regarding assessment and organization.

Characteristics of school games, according to ^{Valverde, R. J. (2016)}:

• They awaken interest in subjects.

• They create the need of adopting decisions.

• They create skills related to collaborative work to complete tasks jointly.

• They require the application of acquired knowledge on different topics or subjects associated.

• They are used to strengthen and check the knowledge acquired in practical lessons, and for skill development.

• They constitute dynamic pedagogic activities, which are limited in time and variant conjugation.

• They speed up student adjustment to social dynamic processes of their lives.

• They break class paradigms, including the authoritative and informative role of teachers, freeing creative potentialities in the students.

The previously assessed precepts permit researchers to determine the aim of this study: to design a set of free time sport and ludic activities for adolescents at the Modesto Carbo Noboa School in Guayaquil.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is a descriptive study, which required a survey about the utilization of free time by 15-17-year-old adolescents at the Modesto Carbo Noboa School in Guayaquil. The population of the study consisted in the 165 students within the same age range, and the sample comprised 18 students, through a non-probabilistic sample selection by intentional criteria of the researcher. The intentional criteria were,  Students willing to take part in the research.

• Students from the morning session.

• Poor academic achievers in physical education.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results of the survey are shown in the following table (Table 3).

Table 1.  - Results of the survey to 15-17-year-old teenagers 

Made by: Palacios (2022)

The overall results of the survey showed that over 50% of the subjects in the study were not so much motivated to taking up physical activities or other activities that did not favor full development in their leisure. Accordingly, a set of physical-sport activities was needed to address this issue.

Reflecting on and conducting a broader characterization of the students are essential endeavors before designing and implementing a strategy. According to specialists of the Central Institute for Pedagogic Sciences, adolescents between 15 and 17 years of age qualify between late adolescence and young age or juveniles, so the students at the Modesto Carbo Noboa begin this type of education as adolescents and graduate as young people.

^{Santiesteban (2021}, p. 43) said “(...) adolescence is a period of creation and restructuring of many aspects and areas of the personality. The contradictions between the personal traits of childhood and the emerging ones from adolescence can be observed. In this second stage, there are different particularities, interests, and relations from the previous stage. It is a moment of self-reaffirmation of personality”.

Although adolescents live in the present, they start dreaming about the future, dedicating most of their time to school activities and studying, but feel the need to associate with their peers. They observe the anatomy-physiological changes occurring, acquire new cognitive qualities, to greater definition and stability of their morality components and a higher self-conscious development level, a key psychological component in this age group.

The physical education teacher’s position is not stopping or forbidding, but enabling the design and implementation of student-based activities that contribute to a more collective and socialized approach. Naturally, in other groups, adolescents find rapport and positive influence, but now they are in the family and school group, each requiring an analysis of the activities designed for them, as well as the demands and the type of relation that characterizes their lives. At that age, they can express their opinions about the demands from adults, which are not always accepted, with an ensued criticism toward the adults. Therefore, they should pay attention, respect, and listen to their opinions, new social position, and act in accordance with it.

Next, is the proposal of sport and ludic activities that foster better use of leisure by the adolescents at the Modesto Carbo Noboa School in Guayaquil.

1. Determination of the aim

2. Determination of the objectives

3. Planning of sport and ludic activities

4. Implementation of the sport and ludic activity program.

Activities in detail:

1. Determination of the aim: To encourage the adolescents at the Modesto Carbo Noboa School in Guayaquil to practice ludic and sport activities.

2. Determination of the objectives

3. To identify the motivations toward the practice of ludic and sport activities in the 15-17-year-old teenagers.

4. To inculcate the contents and variety of ludic and sport activities and raise awareness in the adolescents.

5. To plan ludic and sport activities for 15-17-year-old students in their free time.

6. To set up a schedule containing the possible weekly activities.

Planning of sport and ludic activities: The activities suggested are detailed below:

Activity No. 1. The greased pole

Objective: To encourage perseverance and the will to win. To assess the extent of current environmental problems.

Development: The game is performed outdoors, where many people can gather either as active participants or spectators. A forest area clear of woods is recommended so the participants can experience the consequences of

indiscriminate wood felling. Before initiating the game, there will be a discussion on the functions of trees in the environment, and their importance to purify air. There will be an analysis on the consequences of indiscriminate wood felling to the environment.

At the end of the activity, the collected trees are planted.

An 8-10-meter-high greased pole (using molasses or fat) will be placed in the middle of the area; each contender is allowed to take part, and the one who gets to the top wins.

rganization: the contestants will compete one at a time. If no one reaches their goal, a second round will follow and three adolescents will join until the goal is accomplished.

Rules: Gloves are not allowed, and the body must not be dusted to create friction.

During the first round no help is allowed. Variants:

If no one climbs to the top, longer clothes and gloves will be permitted.

Activity No. 2. Blind boxing

Objective: To encourage perseverance and the will to win. To promote the need to protect and preserve water.

Development: A visit to the drinking water treatment plant, bandanas, ropes, and gloves.

Organization: In an open area of the plant, in the shade, under a pleasant scenario. The game will consist in an all-around, after the first round the winners will face each one another until a champion is declared. A referee will be present in any bout.

Rules: Hitting is only valid with the gloves. The one who receives three points will be out of competition. The valid points will be from hitting the face and abdomen.

Activity No. 3. Cutting the duck’s head

Objective: To stimulate teamwork. To encourage adolescents to protect and preserve water.

Development: A visit to a poultry farm.

Materials: bicycles, ropes, duck, and sticks

Organization: in an open area of a poultry farm, where bikes can run. The teams must have five competitors. They will head for the duck’s head, one at a time, successively. Those who complete the first round, but fail to accomplish their goal, will continue until the duck’s head is severed. The team, whose member can do it, will be the winner. The game will start with a raffle to choose who starts the event.

Rules: The bikers must run their bikes near the duck at the speed set by the referees.

The bikes must be the same size.

When the team wins there will be tour on the poultry farm. They will weigh on the importance of animals for the environment and human progress.

Activity No. 4. Soccer practice

Objective: To develop physical capacities and sorts skills through systematic and active participation in sports activities, thus contributing to the creation of a sports culture.

Development: This sports game consists of two teams that struggle to possess the ball, which must be kicked by all the players to score a goal.

Organization: column, rows, circles, blocks, groups, etc.

Rules: the soccer rules.

Activity No. 5. Basketball practice

Objective: To promote basketball practice and contributye to the knowledge of sports alternatives to developp physical capacities and skills.

Development: commonly practiced activities; these sports can also be included as alternatives that can help in the physical development of the participants.

Organization: column, rows, circles, blocks, groups, etc.

Ways or variants: shooting contest, mini-basket games.

Rules: the basketball rules.

The evaluation of the structure of ludic and sports activities relied on the Delphi method, upon the conception that the proposal undergoes consensus analysis following the selection of the competence coefficient by the experts. It was performed twice, contributing to further improvements.

The expert selection was run after determining their expertise coefficient (K), a product from the sum of the knowledge coefficient (Kc) that represents a level of knowledge acquired by the expert candidate, and the argumentation coefficient (Ka) that expresses the level of the argumentation sources, whose calculation is represented by k = ½ (kc + ka).

The implementation of the previous methodology included 43 possible experts to assess their expertise coefficient (K) on the topic of physical and recreational activities in children and adolescents. The assessment scale was as follows: If 0.8 <K ≤ 1.0, the expertise was high. If 0.5 <K ≤ 0.8, the expertise was medium. If K ≤ 0.5, the expertise was low. The following criteria were included for the selection:

Work experience in ludic and sports activities in schools.

1. Experience in physical education projects or research.

2. Participation and organization of physical and sports activities in educational facilities with students in the same age group.

Consequently, 21 experts were selected, all having an expertise coefficient equal to 0.8 (high). They were asked about the stages, phases, and actions of the physicalrecreational program in the first round; their initial opinions helped set the necessary adjustments for a better proposal.

The 21 experts evaluated the main aspects of the program using the following scale: C5 (Highly adequate); C4 (Quite adequate); C3 (Fairly adequate); C2 (Little adequate); and C1 (Inadequate) (Table 2).

The query produced the following results:

Table 2.  - Expert assessment on the structure of the proposal of ludic and sports activities  

The results demonstrated that the three indicators evaluated by the experts showed a high consensus to consider them as Quite adequate, since the results (0.20, -0.74, and -0.22) placed them within the 0.18-1.02 cohort, proving the pertinence of the ludic and sports activities in further practical activities.

This paper included individuals in late adolescence, and suggested ludic and sports activities according to their age. Hence, it is recommended to follow up the positive or negative effects of the future implementation of the set of activities assessed by the experts, besides increasing the physical-recreational stimuli, and their application to other age groups in the same educational facility.

CONCLUSIONS

Ludic and sports activities enhance adolescents’ formation as a whole; these activities bear an implicit potential to awaken feelings for social justice, equity, and synchronic and diachronic supportiveness into sustainability and life quality. The proposal of ludic and sports activities promote the environmental dimension within the process of physical-sports-recreational activities, as a contribution to the environmental education of adolescents.

The Delphi technique helped corroborate the theoretical pertinence of the ludic and sports activities, and their practical feasibility, reaching the cohort established (0.20, -0.74, and -0.22). Accordingly, there was a high consensus among the 21 experts that assessed the goals, objectives, and ludic activities as quite adequate.

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Received: April 30, 2022; Accepted: May 20, 2022