Australia researches the MQ Scan Part 1

On February 16th (2019) an article about the Athletic Skills Track, also known as the MQ Scan, was published in ‘Journal of Sportsciences’. The research is done in collaboration with the University of South Australia, ‘Healthy lifestyle in a stimulating environment’ from The Hague college of higher education and the faculty of human movement sciences (VU Amsterdam). Preschool children from Australia were measured with the MQ Scan and compared to a different motor competence test: Test for Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2). This showed us the validity of the MQ Scan for measuring the motor competence in children from 3 to 6 years old.

Validated compared to TGMD-2 test
The TGMD-2 is a process-oriented fundamental movement skills test for children from 3 to 10 years old. The test includes 6 locomotor skills and 6 object-control-skills which are scored on quality. Taking the test takes 35 minutes per child.
The MQ Scan contains an obstacle course on which the children perform 5 to 7 locomotor- and stability skills. The kids are supposed to run the obstacle course as fast as possible while executing the exercises in a correct way. Taking this test takes 1 minute per child.

Research is done to the relationship between the TGMD-2 and the MQ Scan. This has shown that the MQ Scan produces similar information to the TGMD-2. This could be the result of the similar underlying ideas. The MQ Scan is based on the idea of coordinative abilities being crucial in developing motorskills. Those skills are being tested indirectly in the TGMD-2.

Conclusion
One of the many conclusions from the article is that the MQ Scan is an achievable and validated fundamental movement skills test for children in the age of 3 to 6. Part 2 of this research about practical implementation is also interesting to read.