A1 Journal article (refereed)
The Inter-Rater and Intra-Rater Reliability of the Actual Aquatic Skills Test (AAST) for Assessing Young Children’s Motor Competence in the Water (2022)

Mertens, L., De Martelaer, K., Sääkslahti, A., & D’Hondt, E. (2022). The Inter-Rater and Intra-Rater Reliability of the Actual Aquatic Skills Test (AAST) for Assessing Young Children’s Motor Competence in the Water. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(1), Article 446. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010446

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Mertens, Lisa; De Martelaer, Kristine; Sääkslahti, Arja; D’Hondt, Eva

Journal or series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

ISSN: 1661-7827

eISSN: 1660-4601

Publication year: 2022

Publication date: 31/12/2021

Volume: 19

Issue number: 1

Article number: 446

Publisher: MDPI AG

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010446

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/79649

Abstract

As children’s actual aquatic skills are important for the prevention of drowning as well as their engagement in lifelong aquatic physical activity, researchers and practitioners should be able to assess this vital concept accurately and reliably. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the Actual Aquatic Skills Test (AAST), consisting of 17 different test items for the assessment of young children’s motor competence in the water. Six raters received a training and evaluation session on scoring the AAST, after which five of them assessed four test videos (of various children (n = 38) performing the test items) twice, with one to two weeks in between (i.e., test and re-test). Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability were determined per test video and for the different AAST test items across videos using Gwet’s Agreement Coefficient 2 (Gwet’s AC2). The Gwet’s AC2 for inter-rater reliability at the test varied from 0.414 to 1.000, indicating a moderate to perfect agreement between raters. For intra-rater reliability, it ranged from 0.628 to 1.000, demonstrating a good to perfect agreement between test and re-test scoring. In conclusion, the AAST is a promising tool to reliably assess young children’s actual aquatic skills in an indoor swimming pool.

Keywords: children (age groups); swimming skills; motor skills (general); motor skills (sports); evaluation; reliability (science); physical education (school subject); physical education teachers; swimming teachers

Free keywords: water competence; swimming; aquatic literacy; physical education; teacher; coach; assessment; pictorial scale

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2022

JUFO rating: 1