Limestone Students, Professor Have Research Published In Journal

Three Limestone students, along with their University professor, recently had a peer-review research journal published in a scholarly journal.

As seen left to right in the accompanying photo, the students include Caylee Premo (Duncan, SC), James Scott (Lincolnton, NC), and Makalynn Callaghan (Summerville, SC).

The article, “Cultivating, Developing, and Promoting Lifestyle Physical Activity in College, for Life,” was published in the August 2020 issue of the American Journal of Educational Research, and is a commentary geared towards improving physical activity (PA) among college students in college life. Other co-authors included Limestone professor of Physical Education Dr. Felicia Cavallini and Dr. David J. Dyck from the University of Guelph.

The American Journal of Educational Research publishes original research and review papers examining the relationship between physical activity and health, studying physical activity as an exposure as well as an outcome.

The research explored in the article explains that from late adolescence into the college years, physical activity levels drop. According to the research, the majority of college students never fully recover into increasing their physical activity levels well into adulthood. Specific intervention strategies are provided in the article that explain how to improve physical activity levels in college – emphasizing the need to focus on lifestyle physical activity opportunities for college students to embrace and experience in college and for the rest of their lives.

In the article, the “MyLimestone Activity” and “MyResidence Activity” graphics are featured.

Cavallini’s research is a part of the ongoing study from 2015 when she completed an 11-month Fulbright Scholar Student/Research Grant in Canada where she served at the University of Guelph as a Visiting Research Chair in the Human Health and Nutritional Sciences Department. Along with her students, Cavallini used her physical activity research data, gathered in Guelph, representing the younger adult populations both in Canada and the U.S. that reveal preferences for lifestyle physical activity, lack of time (both real and perceived), and the importance of enjoying the physical activity experience among our younger citizens, including students.

“So many adolescents are not going to be drawn toward athletics and sports as they mature into adulthood because that is not their true preference in engaging in physical activity,” Cavallini explained. “Therefore, it is vitally important that physical education teachers prepare their curriculums to be more diverse in content so that all students can have more opportunity and higher probability of finding a more meaningful way to move for them in order to help establish transfer of knowledge and habits well into adult life, including the college years.

“Furthermore, Physical Education classes and intramural programs in college should continue to keep in mind adult preferences for physical activity, including college-aged students for whom many prefer lifestyle physical activity,” she continued. “More activities geared around walking, co-ed recreational, and social physical activity activities such as inner tube water polo, disc golf, scavenger hunts, walking and hiking on nearby trails, and non-competitive group bike rides should all be considered when attracting more physical activity participation in young adults.”

Cavallini earned her Education Doctorate Degree in Physical Education from the University of Houston and has accomplished numerous presentations and peer-reviewed publications both nationally and internationally while at Limestone. Following her time in Guelph in 2014, Cavallini and her research team created graphics to represent their research findings. The graphics are now used in multiple areas around Limestone’s campus and in the Gaffney community.