Outcomes of Selected Physical Education Activity Courses as Perceived by University Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess student perceptions on outcomes received from participation in specific physical education classes, and to compare these perceptions with those generated by a committee of experts. Five outcome statements were developed for each of three outcome areas (fitness, skill-performance, and artistic-creative). A questionnaire containing the 15 outcome statements was distributed to students enrolled in 27 activity courses (N = 660), which in turn were categorized into one of the three outcome areas. Using a 1-to-5 Likert scale, students responded to each statement with regard to perceived benefits from participation in their specific course. An overall grand mean was computed to determine if students perceived benefits from participating in those courses. Chi-square tests were calculated to determine if students and experts agreed on course placement in outcome areas. Results indicated that students perceived participation in physical education activities as being beneficial in accomplishing the 15 stated outcomes. There was agreement between students’ and experts’ perceptions regarding the designated outcome area for eight of the 15 outcome statements and disagreements for one statement. Overlapping between two or more outcome areas occurred with three statements, and three statements were generic to participation in physical education activities.