Promoting physical activity through student life and academics

Abstract

Objective: A physical activity passport (PAP) was developed to increase student’s physical activity through the collaboration of student life and academics. The purpose was to measure the effectiveness of the PAP. Design: The research design used was a quantitative, descriptive, quasi-experimental design with experimental and control groups. Setting: This study investigated a mid-sized southeastern university in the USA. Method: Two hundred and seventy-eight undergraduates (159 females, 116 males) sampled from 12 physical activity courses participated (109 freshmen, 71 sophomores, 53 juniors and 42 seniors). There were 144 in the PAP group and 134 in the non-PAP group. Participants filled out the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ) as well as a demographic questionnaire. Results: The results showed that those who participated in the PAP attended more than four times as many group fitness classes than did those who did not participate in the PAP. Furthermore, distinctive differences were found among students that might aid in future programming. Conclusion: Although results refuted the hypotheses, there were several future implications that could be drawn, most significantly the connection to future research involving self-determination theory.