University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Elementary physical education programs: Impact on students

Wolf, Deborah Wilson

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/23351

Description

Title
Elementary physical education programs: Impact on students
Author(s)
Wolf, Deborah Wilson
Issue Date
1990
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Walker, J.
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Education, Physical
  • Education, Elementary
  • Education, Curriculum and Instruction
Language
eng
Abstract
  • The Purpose for Engaging in Physical Activity Scale (PEPAS) was used in this study to compare the attitudes of elementary school children with and without specialist instruction in physical education. The survey was administered to 288 fifth grade students at four elementary schools in East-Central Illinois. Two of the schools employed an elementary physical education specialist and two did not. In addition, of the 157 students who were taught by a specialist, 80 had an instructional period of physical education each day, while 77 had physical education only once or twice a week. The Mann-Whitney U Test for the difference between two independent samples was used to compare the attitudes of the students who had been taught by a specialist as opposed to those who had not; and again to compare the attitudes of the students who had an instructional period of physical education daily as opposed to those who had physical education once or twice a week. The students at the schools not having a specialist ranked 12 items on the PEPAS significantly higher than the students at the schools which had a specialist. The significance level was p $<$.05 on 4 items and p $<$.01 on 8 items. Only one item was ranked significantly higher (p $<$.05) by the daily group as opposed to the non-daily group.
  • The results of this study suggest that classroom teachers who teach physical education in place of a specialist can have a very positive effect on the attitudes of children about physical education, and could be an effective source for the implementation of sound physical education programs. The students who enjoyed activity frequently, whether taught by a specialist or not, responded very positively to the items on the PEPAS. These results suggest that, for an activity to have meaning for a student, it must be daily and enjoyable. Physical educators need to evaluate their programs to assess what has meaning for their students. Activity which has meaning will be more likely to be pursued throughout a lifetime.
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/23351
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1990 Wolf, Deborah Wilson

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Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois
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