Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to compare the motor skill-related physical fitness levels of
the hearing-impaired and non hearing-impaired students of Volta School for the Deaf and
St. Francis Junior High School in the Hohoe municipality. A cross-sectional design was
used in conducting this study. This type of design utilizes different groups of people who
differ in the variable of interest, but share other characteristics such as socio-economic
status, educational background, and ethnicity. The target population for the study was the
students of Volta School for the Deaf and all basic school students in the Hohoe
municipality. In all, hundred participants were used for the study; fifty with hearing impairment and the other fifty without hearing-impairment. Volta School for the Deaf
was selected purposely for the study because it was the only school for the deaf in the
region and for that matter in the Hohoe municipality while a simple random sampling
technique was used to select St. Francis Junior Secondary School from among mixed
schools in the municipality that had students without hearing-impairment. The University
of Illinois Test Instruments designed by American Alliance of Health, Physical
Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) in 1986 was used to collect data. The t test and descriptive statistics on Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software
were used to analyse the results of the assessment conducted on the participants. An
alpha level of 0.05 for two-tail was used. The result showed that there were no significant
differences between the two groups in the use of power, speed and reaction time but there
were differences in coordination, agility and balance.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Sports, Faculty
of Science, submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, University of Education,
Winneba in partial fulfilment of the requirement for award of the Master of Philosophy
Degree in Physical Education.
JULY, 2013