The relationship between sport and academic achievement

Abstract

Easting (2003) conducted a study and found compelling evidence that the physical well-being of students has a direct impact on their ability to achieve academically, and that students achieve best when they are physically fit. The aim of this research is to investigate whether sport is a hindrance or can be of benefit towards academic achievement. I will be looking at the relationship between participation in sport and the results obtained by Second Year and Third Year University of Malta students, within their First Year and Second Year examinations respectively. There are a number of studies which have shown that there is a positive relationship between sport and academic achievement including that by Eastin. However, a number of studies show that there is a negative relationship between sport and academic achievement. Thomas Corneliβen & Christian Pfeifer (2007) argue that since the time spent on sport activities crowd out time devoted to schooling, the impact of sport is negative. Data will be composed using Quantitative methods, through questionnaires. Saliba and Xuereb (2011) conducted research about the relationship between participation in sport and academic achievement of Form 5 students in Malta. In this research a One-Way Anova test was used in order to compare the mean grades of students who take part in sport to those who do not take part in any sport. I will compare my results to those of Saliba and Xuereb (2011), in order to see whether there are any differences or similarities in our research findings.