The impact of virtual sports on the functional performance of college students with disabilities: The impact of virtual sports on the functional performance of college students with disabilities

Tatiana Berezina

doi:10.5281/zenodo.17097843

Authors

Tatiana Berezina Moscow State University of Psychology and Education

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17097843

Keywords:

disabilities, college students, functional disabilities, virtual sports, virtual reality, static balancing, breath holding, mindfulness, vitality

Abstract

Modern education actively introduces new technologies that help improve the educational process. The presence of health restrictions leads to a decrease in the physical activity of the student. Students exempt from physical education classes experience a further decline in physical activity.. Virtual reality technologies can help to overcome the gap between the need for physical activity of students and the health condition that prevents it. Objective: to assess the effect of virtual sports on the functional characteristics of health and vitality of college students with health restrictions. Method: classical experiment. Subjects: 30 college students (17-18 years old) with disabilities; including 16 girls. They were randomly divided into control and experimental groups (15 students each (8 girls and 7 boys)). Diagnostics: breath holding on inhalation (Stange test), static balancing, mindfulness questionnaire (MAAS), vitality questionnaire, "Subjective assessment of diseases" questionnaire. Impact: 3 virtual sports sessions over 3 weeks using VR simulators (rock climbing - The Climb 2, archery: Archery Kings, racket games: First Person Tennis). Statistics: Wilcoxon test, ANOVA analysis of variance. Results: The experimental group students significantly increased: static balancing time (by 29.7 sec. (p<0.01) and stress resistance. The following increased at the trend level: breath holding time on inhalation (by 6.2 sec. (p<0.10) and overall vitality. No changes were found in the control group. Functional health indicators are also affected by the duration of sports sessions. Conclusion: Virtual sports sessions over 3 weeks, 1 session per week, have proven effective for students with disabilities.

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The impact of virtual sports on the functional performance of college students with disabilities