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This study examined conceptual physical education (CPE) course syllabi in order to better understand how such courses were taught in higher education. In total, 86 syllabi were collected with 43% of them emanating from colleges. The syllabi were analyzed to ascertain the course credits, formats, content, assignments and assessments. Chi-square tests were employed to explore the differences between colleges and universities in the aforementioned aspects. The data from our study suggested that knowledge remained the focus of such courses. Physical activity, fitness, and nutrition assignments and assessments were not widely employed. Furthermore, universities had fewer CPE credits than colleges. There were CPE content differences between colleges and universities while no significant discrepancy of assignments and assessments was found. (Contains 5 tables.)

This study aimed to examine southern Chinese college student (N = 1983) stage of exercise behavior changes (SEBC) and their exercise self-efficacy (ESE). The SEBC and ESE scales were used to collect data. ANOVA was performed to investigate the differences in ESE by SEBC. Post Hoc Tukey tests were employed to determine which variables contributed to the differences. The data from the study indicated that those who maintained regular participation in exercise had significantly higher ESE than those who did not. It is concluded that improving college student ESE might lead to an increase in exercise. (Contains 2 tables.)

Conceptual physical education (CPE) courses play a critical role in promoting physical activity (PA) among students in American higher education settings. To date, however, very limited knowledge is available about the effectiveness of such courses. Aims: The primary purpose of the study was to examine effects of a CPE course on altering freshmen PA levels. The secondary objective was to test PA change differences in gender and major. Ninety-two freshmen from a large state university participated in the study. Daily steps and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) minutes were measured by accelerometers and were used to estimate freshmen's PA changes. Repeated measure MANOVA was conducted to analyze the PA differences in gender and major. The results revealed that students significantly reduced their PA levels from the pre-test to the post-test. The decline from the mid-test to the post-test, however, was not significant. Significant gender effect was also found. The CPE course helped freshmen slow down the PA decrease, even though the course did not significantly increase the students' PA. Such a course and had more positive effects on female student's PA than their male counterparts. Conclusion: The current study confirmed previously reported trend of PA decrease among freshmen. However, enrolling in a CPE might help minimize the decrease by allocating time within lab sections for PA and encouraging participation outside class, especially during the weekend when students tend to be more sedentary.

The purpose of the study was to examine Hispanic and other minority ninth-grade students' health-related fitness (HRF) knowledge, using FitSmart, a standardized test for high school students. The test consisted of 50 weighted multiple choice items, measuring six subcontent components. Means and standard deviations of the overall scores and the subcontent scores were computed. The findings suggested that students demonstrated mastery of one subcontent component but failed to meet passing values for all other subcontents and overall HRF knowledge. Female students outscored their male counterparts, but there was no difference for ethnicity. More efforts are needed to ensure that Hispanic and other minority high school students master fundamental HRF knowledge. (Contains 2 tables.)

Background: Millions of American children are participating in fitness testing in school-based physical education (PE) programs. However, practitioners and researchers in the field of PE have questioned the need for regular or mandatory youth fitness testing. This was partly because a significant improvement in youth fitness and physical activity (PA) levels has not been demonstrated since the implementation of such tests in the 1950s. Therefore, there is a need to understand fully the role of youth fitness testing in school-based PE programs. Purposes: Given that no data are available to enrich our understanding of the determinants of teacher use of youth fitness tests in PE programs in the USA, this study aimed to identify variables that influence teachers' use of fitness tests, guided by the theoretical model of Ronis, Yates, and Kirscht for determinants of a repeated behavior (i.e., use of fitness tests in this study). Participants: Full-time PE teachers (n = 325) from 10 states in the USA participated in the study. The average age of the participants was 40.17 years (SD = 10.7). The average elementary and secondary teaching experiences were 6.6 years (SD = 8.5), and 8.2 years (SD = 10.3), respectively. There were 177 (54.6%) females and 146 (45.1%) males. In total, 83% of the participants used various fitness tests. Data collection: The researchers generated an initial survey, guided by survey research theories due to the lack of a pre-validated instrument. The theoretical model of Ronis, Yates and Kirscht, which consisted of three major factors: unreasoned influences, resources or enabling variables, and reasoned influences, provided guidance for the selection of primary factors, the sub-factors in each factor, and items in each sub-factor. The survey was pilot tested through multiple phases to ensure acceptable score reliability and validity. Three approaches were employed to collect the data. First, some surveys were mailed to teachers that the investigators knew directly. Second, PE teacher educators in different states were asked to mail materials to teachers they knew. And third, a PE email list was used to solicit participants. In total, 821 surveys were distributed and 325 were usable. The actual return rate was difficult to determine because some teacher educators failed to record the number of surveys they sent out. Data analysis: The means and standard deviations for each of the three factors in the model of Ronis, Yates and Kirscht were calculated. Negatively worded items were reverse-coded to be consistent with the scoring of the positive items. The higher the score, the stronger the endorsement of the statement/item. Discriminant function (DF) analysis was performed multiple times using different combinations of data sets to explore the determinants thoroughly. Results: The results of the DF analysis suggested that reasoned influence (i.e., intentions of using fitness tests for students, perceived benefits, perceived self-efficacy, and overall attitudes) and resource enabling factors were found to predict if teachers implement fitness tests. No demographic variables were identified as determinants when analyzed with other variables. Conclusions: The results from this study confirmed that there were various determinants of teacher fitness test use and the model of Ronis, Yates and Kirscht could guide the investigation of the repeated behavior--teacher use of youth fitness tests. Among the three factors in the model, reasoned influences and resource enabling factors were the determinants, suggesting test promoters may need to take into consideration those factors when revising the nationally available fitness tests. The data also provided empirical evidence to support the need for youth fitness testing from the teacher perspective. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)

This article addresses ways in which fitness tests can be used positively in physical education. We take the position throughout the article that fitness tests should be used as formative evaluation to further educational goals. We begin by discussing the different ways in which adults and children use fitness tests. The next section, the heart of the article, provides guidelines for incorporating fitness testing into the physical education curriculum and maintains that: (a) fitness testing should be implemented as an integral part of fitness instruction; (b) fitness testing results should be used to assess fitness instruction and student learning; and (c) the expectation should be that all children have the potential to meet basic health-related fitness standards. The final section focuses on the related issues of students' perceptions of fitness tests and ways to assist teachers in productively implementing fitness tests.

College education is the last opportunity to educate a large segment of young adults to be physically active and develop a healthy lifestyle. This study examined minority community college student risks for cardiovascular disease, physical activity (PA) patterns, and effects of physical education and general health courses on promoting PA. Minority students (N = 291) at a community college in a large metropolitan area participated in the project. Body mass index, waist circumference, and blood pressure were used to estimate risks for potential heart problems while PA patterns were assessed using a pre-validated questionnaire. The data from the study suggested that about two thirds of the participants were at a high risk level for heart problems. More than two thirds of the participants did not perform adequate amounts of PA. Those who were taking physical education and general health courses reported significantly greater amounts of PA than those who were not. This group of minority community students urgently needs interventions to improve their overall health and PA levels. (Contains 6 tables.)

This study aimed to determine how California secondary physical education teachers perceive the state mandated youth fitness testing for the 5th, 7th, and 9th grades using Fitnessgram. The participants were secondary school physical education teachers (N = 323). A previously validated attitudinal instrument (Keating & Silverman, 2004a) was used to collect the data. The means and standard deviations for each attitude subdomain and the overall attitudes were computed. MANOVA and ANOVA were employed to test the differences in attitudes by demographic and profession-related variables. Teachers' overall attitudes toward the Fitnessgram were slightly higher than a neutral attitude, indicating slightly positive attitudes on a 7-point Likert scale (M = 4.47, SD = 1.06). The mean scores for the attitude subdomain of cognitive (i.e., usefulness of fitness test results) and the affective (i.e., enjoyment of implementing fitness tests, and enjoyment of using fitness test results) components were 4.25 (SD = 1.38), 4.90 (SD = 1.15), and 4.39 (SD = 1.17), respectively. The data from the study suggested that teachers marginally agreed that the test results were useful and that they somewhat enjoyed implementing the test. Class size and student grade levels taught were important profession-related variables to consider regarding teacher attitudes toward the Fitnessgram.

The Physical Education Teacher Attitudes Toward Fitness Test Scale (PETAFTS) produces reliable and valid scores. There were 4 stages and 4 sets of participants in the development of the PETAFTS. First, the domains of attitude were defined and cognitive and affective components were developed, organized, and validated. In the second stage, 134 full-time physical education teachers participated in a pilot study and PETAFTS was revised based on the information obtained. In the third stage, 28 teacher educators served on an expert panel and organized the items into domain areas. In the final stage, 322 physical education teachers from 10 states tested the revised PETAFTS. Based on the results, the PETAFTS was shortened by deleting and combining some of the items in subdomains; this resulted in a 16-item final version that, according to the indices, generates reliable and valid scores.

This study was designed to investigate the status of teachers' use of fitness tests in school-based physical education programs. Full-time physical education teachers (N = 325) in 10 states participated. A questionnaire was developed specifically for this study to collect data. Various methods were utilized to lend evidence for the reliability and validity of the items on the questionnaire. Means and standard deviations of continuous variables and Likert-type variables were computed. Frequencies of category variables were calculated and percentages of the frequencies were reported. The results were: (a) most of the teachers used fitness tests with the majority using nationally available fitness tests (among those who implemented the nationally available fitness tests, most utilized the norm-referenced test [i.e., President's Challenge, 1998] and not criterion-referenced tests [i.e., the Fitnessgram, or YMCA Youth Fitness Test Program]), (b) teachers in general implemented different approaches to prepare students for fitness testing and most teachers informed students verbally about the tests in advance, (c) helping students gain awards was the least important purpose for teachers to use fitness tests, and (d) fitness testing was not strongly associated with teachers' fitness/physical activity instruction. The data from the study suggested that fitness testing is merely an isolated part of physical education programs. (Contains 8 tables.)

Although replication is important to the validity of a study and is endorsed by more and more scholars, few researchers in kinesiology attend to this issue. Some researchers may believe that statistical significance and effect size are the most important statistical issues in their research and thereby may have ignored the importance of result replication. Both significance testing and effect size, however, rarely inform researchers about the likelihood that results will be replicated in different samples drawn from the same population. The primary purpose of this tutorial is to provide readers with information regarding result replicability evaluation, focusing on double cross-validation approaches. This tutorial can also serve as a practical guide for conducting replicability analyses using double cross-validation methods. (Contains 5 tables.)

This paper aims to examine current nationwide youth fitness test programs, address problems embedded in the programs, and possible solutions. The current Fitnessgram, President's Challenge, and YMCA youth fitness test programs were selected to represent nationwide youth fitness test programs. Sponsors of the nationwide youth fitness test programs need to (a) carefully examine the efficacy of youth fitness test batteries in promoting student health-related fitness, (b) increase the accountability of youth fitness testing, (c) add a written test on student fitness knowledge to the fitness test programs, and (d) select and develop more efficient test items in each test component. (Contains 2 tables.)

Examined preservice teachers' attitudes toward fitness tests in schools. Respondents had only slightly positive attitudes toward fitness tests and did not consider them very important or useful. These responses persisted as students' professional preparation increased. Previous experience with fitness tests influenced their attitudes, while age, gender, association with professional organizations, and type of fitness test did not. (SM)

Examined the content, process, and instructors of introductory graduate research methods classes within kinesiology and physical education departments. Overall, course objectives included understanding, planning, critiquing, and applying research. Quantitative design and analysis were emphasized most frequently. Most class time involved lecture. Grades were based on exams, preparing research proposals, and regular assignments. Professors were relatively experienced and reasonably productive researchers. (SM)

Investigated relationships between teachers' belief systems toward physical activity and fitness and what they taught. Researchers observed teachers with high and low physical activity and fitness beliefs, measuring instructional behaviors related to physical activity and fitness. No differences surfaced between groups in percent of class time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity, fitness activities, or teacher fitness-related behaviors. (SM)

This study aimed to examine changes in physical education (PE) programs nationwide from 2006 to 2010 by analyzing the data reported in the Shape of the Nation published by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. Means and standard deviations for numeric variables in the reports were computed. For categorical variables, percentages were calculated. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test. The data from this study indicate a significant change in elementary PE as more states have mandated elementary PE and licensed elementary PE teachers. Significant increases in required PE units for high school graduation were also noted, indicating a positive change toward enhancing high school PE. However, the percentages of states with funding for professional development and required PE coordinator decreased significantly, suggesting that more work needs to be done if school PE is to provide the help and support requested by public health agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the relationship between the importance of physical activity and fitness to teachers and their teaching behaviors in physical education in the U.S. Factors influencing instructional behaviors; Frequency of teachers prioritizing fitness activities; Implications for understanding the relation between belief system and action.