Reimagining teaching in higher education: Impact of a pilot physically active learning intervention on perceived teaching effectiveness

Abstract

Purpose Physically Active Learning (PAL) integrates purposeful movement into academic instruction and has been associated with improved student learning and health outcomes in school settings. However, evidence supporting PAL implementation in higher education is limited. This mixed-methods pilot study evaluated university educators' experiences of the TransformUs Higher Ed PAL program and explored perceived changes in teaching practice, competence, confidence, willingness, and PAL implementation. Methods Educators from eight disciplines, including Law, Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Nursing and Theology, at one Australian university participated in the intervention. Post-intervention semi-structured interviews (n = 10) were analysed using an inductive–deductive thematic approach informed by the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation–Behaviour (COM-B) model. Pre- and post-intervention surveys (n = 10) assessed perceived competence, confidence, willingness, barriers, and student outcomes associated with PAL, while implementation checklists (n = 6) described patterns of PAL implementation. Results Educators reported increased psychological capability, enhanced motivation driven by improvements in student engagement, and highlighted the importance of practical, social, and institutional support for successful PAL implementation. Qualitative findings demonstrated that educators embedded PAL across diverse teaching contexts and described meaningful shifts in their teaching practices, student engagement, and professional identity. Survey findings indicated improvements across all five PAL implementation constructs, with educators reporting greater willingness, competence, confidence, and perceived student outcomes, alongside fewer perceived barriers to implementing PAL. Implementation checklists showed that educators consistently planned for PAL integration, while embedding PAL into assessment remained the most challenging aspect of implementation. Conclusions TransformUs Higher Ed appears to be an acceptable professional learning approach for supporting PAL implementation in higher education. Although findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the small sample, they provide a strong rationale for larger multi-institutional studies incorporating observational and student-level outcomes to evaluate effectiveness, sustainability, and scalability.