Scheduled for Research Consortium Pedagogy I Poster Session, Thursday, April 27, 2006, 10:15 AM - 11:45 AM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Area I


Impact of National Standards on Curriculum of Physical Education Teacher Education

Xiangren Yi, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI and Zan Gao, Lsu, Baton Rouge, LA

The National Standards for Beginning Physical Education Teachers (1995) and the Standards for Initial Program in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) (2001) identified the requirements for teacher candidates' knowledge base and abilities. Although national standards (NS) have been instituted for approximately 10 years, little is known regarding how many courses required in the PETE concentration have been revised due to the initial standards. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether NS had influenced curriculum changes, and whether curriculum changes were related to individual and institutional variables. A web-based survey was utilized in this study. The questionnaire was administered in my homepage Website. One hundred ten directors selected from colleges and universities with a PETE program were asked to provide their views by completing a questionnaire submitted on this Website. Response rate was 56.35%, including 37 men and 26 women. They were from comprehensive college and universities I & II (47.6%), doctoral & research extensive-universities (23.8%), doctoral & research intensive-universities (22.2 %), and baccalaureate and liberal arts colleges (6.3 %). More than 55.5% of respondents had five or more years in their current position and 76% respondents were 40 years of age or older. Their professional affiliations were America College of Sport Medicine (ACSM, 19%), the National Association for Kinesiology and Physical Education in Higher Education (NAPEHE, 28.6%) and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD, 98.6%). The survey results indicated that there was a mean (M = 3.08, SD = 1.72) of courses revision during the past decade. The ratios of institutions for changing 1 or 2 courses, 3 or 4 courses, 5 or 6 courses, and 7 or 8 courses were 19%, 20.6 %, 14.3 %, and 20.6%, respectively. The correlation analysis was utilized to measure relationship among curriculum changes and individual and institutional variables. The results showed that AAHPERD was significantly positively correlated with course changes (r = 0.22, P< 0.05). The multiple regressions for individual and institutional variables yielded significant differences for courses changes (F (6, 62) = 3.34, P=0.007). The results revealed that, for course changes, age and AAHPERD were significantly positive predictors, whereas years in current position was one negative predictor (P< 0.05). These predictors accounted for 18.5% of variance. Overall, these results suggested that NS had affected curriculum of PETE and curriculum changes were significantly related to age, years in current position and participation of professional organization.
Keyword(s): assessment, curriculum development, standards and ethics

Back to the 2006 AAHPERD National Convention and Exposition