Singapore students' perceptions of fitness testing in physical education : using music to enhance their experiences in the most unpopular fitness test item (middle-distance running)
Authors:   , Lim Bernadette Bree Ashley Yan 
Published: November 2024

Global physical inactivity is on the rise. This sedentary way of life will lead to health issues. Fitness testing has been an integral part of school-based physical education (PE) to promote positive physical activity perceptions. However, the merits of fitness testing have been an ongoing debate, whether it should be discontinued. There is emerging consensus that when appropriately implemented, fitness testing can make a valuable contribution in PE. The National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA) in Singapore schools is a nation-wide standardised and mandatory test to develop students’ physical health and fitness competencies. Despite the aim of NAPFA testing, insufficient physical activity level has not improved, and the obesity rate has increased in schools. Students commonly perceive fitness testing negatively. Their positive fitness testing perceptions decline as they advance in school stages, and this tendency is more apparent in females than males. Numerous students also do not like long runs. One of the test items is a middle-distance run to assess students’ cardiovascular endurance. Improvements cannot be made judiciously due to limited research on fitness testing meaningfulness and young people’s views. Furthermore, no study has empirically examined Singapore students’ fitness testing perceptions. Therefore, this PhD programme of study was conducted to investigate Singapore students’ perceptions of fitness testing and explored the effectiveness of using music to enhance students’ fitness test middle-distance running experiences. The surveys administered in Study 1 revealed that secondary females perceived fitness testing more negatively and indicated lower enjoyment than secondary males and primary females. Secondary and pre-university females were less motivated towards fitness testing than primary females. Both female and male pre-university students consistently viewed fitness testing as more important for males. The 2.4km/1.6km Run was the most unpopular test item among Singapore students, predominantly with the secondary females. In Study 2, a music intervention was proposed to enhance students’ fitness test middle-distance running experiences. In order to better customise the intervention for students, a meta-analysis was performed to systematically evaluate the music effects on untrained young people’s running experiences. The meta-analysis results affirmed that music use has positive benefits in lowering perceived exertion and heightening enjoyment during running, and provided further insights to refine the Study 3 research design. In Study 3, empirical research using interval running in a laboratory setting tested the efficacy of music to improve students’ fitness test middle-distance running experiences. Results supported the capacity of music to promote positive experiences in Singapore adolescent students’ middle-distance running. The beneficial music effects shown did not vary by gender, music type, and attentional focus style. Findings of the three studies clarified fitness testing issues and showed promising evidence in the use of music to improve Singapore adolescent students’ fitness test middle-distance running experiences. The collected information also provided additional knowledge for practitioners to improve existing practices that cater to students’ learning needs in schools.