How do we get secondary school students to engage in active and sustainable modes of travel?
This project is a part of a full-year course, taking place during the fall 2023 and winter 2024.
Project Description:
Physical activity has been associated with numerous beneficial outcomes to physical, emotional, mental, and social health, academic performance, and climate benefits (e.g., reduced air pollution). For over 20 years, the City of Hamilton has conducted reviews, improvements, and policy development to create safer neighborhoods for students to use active and sustainable modes of travel to get to and from school. For example, walking, cycling, skateboarding, school bus, and city bus. However, despite concerns for pedestrian safety and decreasing physical activity levels as we age, secondary schools have not been a primary focus. Therefore, there is a gap in the active and sustainable school travel program that must be addressed. While parents are key influencers in the travel mode for elementary students, secondary students are more independent in their day-to-day lives. Therefore, understanding this unique population’s needs and challenges to using active and sustainable school travel, and how to best reach this population is warranted.
Background Research:
Students will be required to conduct background research on:
The City’s previous campaigns for active and sustainable modes of travel. Students may benefit from conversations with Krystn about what has been successful about these initiatives and what could be improved in this next iteration with secondary students as the target demographic.
Successful initiatives for active and sustainable modes of travel with secondary school students that proved successful in comparable locations (e.g., sister cities, mid-sized cities, cities with similar demographics).
Research methods appropriate for implementation with this population.
In Scope:
Students will work with Public Health Services (specifically Krystn) to:
Design a research project that includes a summary of the problem, data collection methods, analysis methods, and a deliverable or set of deliverables that will be used by Public Health Services (e.g., report, infographic). The design of the research plan will be informed by a review of the literature to ensure the methods chosen are rooted in evidence and are appropriate for the research question at hand.
Student(s) will complete McMaster’s Research Ethics Protocol for submission under McMaster’s Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board and (if required) HWDSB or HWCDSB’s ethics review boards.
Students will work with Public Health Services to collect and analyze primary data (e.g., surveys, semi-structured
City staff name: Krystn Orr, PhD. Physical Activity Specialist, Public Health Services
Instructors name: Jen Pearson, Outreach Coordinator, Equity Deserving Groups (Access Program), and Margaret Secord, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences
Course name: Child Health Specialization Thesis