Increasing Student Physical Fitness through Increased Choice of Fitness Activities and Student Designed Fitness Activities for Ninth through Twelfth Graders in Physical Education Class
Author: Jacob, Margo A.
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Dissertations/Theses
Subjects: High School Students,Physical Education,Exercise,Intervention,Research Projects,Action Research,Negative Attitudes,Physical Fitness,Student Attitudes,Enrollment,Student Surveys,Parent Attitudes,Tests,Aquatic Sports,Standards

This action research project report began when the teacher researcher determined that students exhibited physical fitness levels below that of the state and national norms, and also displayed negative attitudes about physical education. The purpose of this action research project was to increase physical fitness and fitness attitudes through choices of fitness activities and student designed fitness activities. Eleven students in high school grade levels 10-12 participated in this study from August 23, 2010 through December 15, 2010. Students' low fitness levels and negative attitudes about physical education was determined by the increase in the sedentary lifestyles of high school students, disinterest in physical education fitness activities, lack of student input in their physical education classes, the curriculum focus on skill-related physical education over health-related physical education and the decline in the enrollment in physical education classes. The teacher researcher used a student survey to determine students' attitude toward and interest in physical fitness activities in their physical education class, a parent survey to identify the physical fitness interests of high school students as perceived by their parents, the American Red Cross Lifeguarding Fitness Test, and the Presidential Physical Fitness Test were used to determine the fitness level of high school students. Through the student survey the teacher researcher was able to determine that although the students did not have a great interest in their physical education fitness activities they did believe being fit was important. The parent survey allowed the teacher researcher to understand how important the parents believed fitness to be for their children and that the parents believed their children were physically fit. Through the American Red Cross Lifeguarding Fitness Test it was determined that the students met the requirements to become a certified Lifeguard. The Presidential Fitness Test provided the teacher researcher with evidence that while a few students were unable to meet the standards, a majority of the students were able to meet or exceed the standards. The first intervention that the teacher researcher used was to give the students choices of fitness activities during their physical education fitness days. The choices that were given to the students ranged in levels of low impact, moderate impact, and high impact. The final intervention was allowing students to develop their own fitness activities in the areas of aquatics, cardiovascular endurance, strength training, calisthenics, and sports and games that would be administered during their physical education fitness days. There was not a notable change in the students' attitude toward physical fitness which could be due to the fact that this group of students believed in the importance in physical fitness from the beginning. What was notable to the teacher researcher was the increase in the participation in the fitness day activities as well as the increase in the variety of fitness activities that the students became interested in. Four appendixes present: (1) Student Survey; (2) Parent Survey; (3) American Red Cross Lifeguarding Fitness Test; and (4) Presidential Physical Fitness Test. (Contains 29 figures and 5 tables.)