Exercise physiology is a critical component of the physical education teacher education (PETE) curriculum. The appropriateness of the course content and instructional methods associated with traditional approaches for the delivery of exercise physiology to prospective physical education teachers has been questioned, however (Bulger, Graves, Mohr, & Wiegand, 2000; Barnett & Merriman, 1994; Karper, 1997; Miller & Housner, 1998; Van Donselaar & Leslie, 1990). Bulger et al. (2000) compared the effectiveness of a traditional, theory-based versus an alternative, pedagogical content knowledge-based exercise physiology courses in delivering exercise physiology content knowledge to students. The following groups participated in that study: (a) exercise physiology students enrolled in a traditional exercise physiology course, (b) PETE students enrolled in an alternative exercise physiology course, and (c) PETE students enrolled in an introduction to physical education course. Each participant completed a modified exercise physiology content knowledge test (Miller & Housner, 1998) during the first and final weeks of the semester. The findings indicated that an alternative course emphasizing pedagogical content knowledge was more effective than a traditional course in delivering exercise physiology content knowledge to PETE students. The purpose of the current study is to extend this line of investigation by explaining the individual and course characteristics that potentially contributed to the previously observed differences in student performance. A fourth group of PETE students enrolled in a traditional exercise physiology course was added to improve the previous study (Bulger et al., 2000). A one-way ANOVA on participant mean gain scores indicated that a significant difference existed among group performances. A Duncan's new multiple range post hoc comparison revealed that the PETE students enrolled in the alternative course demonstrated a significantly higher mean gain score than the other groups. In an attempt to further explain these results, data regarding student entrance exam scores and current grade point average was collected and correlated with participant mean gain scores. These analyses revealed no statistically significant correlations, suggesting that a participant’s cognitive ability did not impact the study’s findings. Additionally, the exercise physiology test questions were classified as theoretical or applied. Participant mean gain scores on questions within these classifications were compared using a 4x2 ANOVA (group x question type) with repeated measures on the last factor. Other than the significant group main effect that was previously reported, no other main effects were found to be significant thus supporting the superiority of the experimental course for all types of questions.