African American Students’ Perceptions of the Values of Basic Physical Education Activity Programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Abstract

The present investigation examined how African American students rated the values of the basic instructional physical education activity program at two historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) based on a 24-item questionnaire. Descriptive data indicated that the students rated keeping in good health and physical condition as the most important value. A principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation revealed five underlying factors that appeared related to (a) physical self-efficacy, (b) a commitment to lifelong participation, (c) health-related physical fitness, (d) health/aesthetic benefits, and (e) social benefits. Physical self-efficacy appeared to be the most significant, accounting for the largest portion of the explained variance. African American female students placed more emphasis on health/aesthetic benefits, and African American male students placed emphasis on the social benefits. Overall, results of the present investigation generally appeared consistent with findings of earlier studies conducted at predominantly white Colleges and universities.

An Examination of High School Students' Attitudes toward Physical Education with Regard to Sex and Sport Participation

“…With respect to our first hypothesis, boys had a higher mean Attitudes Toward Physical Education score than girls. This finding confirms the findings of previous studies (Smoll & Schutz, 1980;Birtwistle & Brodie, 1991;Anderssen , 1993 ;Tannehlll, Romar , 07Sullivan, England, & Rosenberg , 1994;Quaterman, Harris, & Chew, 1996). Although the age of participants and questionnaire differed from those of the present study, similar findings were also obtained by Hicks and his colleagues (2001).…”

Employing Human Performance Optimization Initiatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities: The Case of the U.S. Military

“…Studies on how African Americans perceive the value of physical education and/or exercise programs tend to emphasize the role of student socioeconomic status (i.e., Jacob 1992) as well as race (DeSensi 1992). Quartermann et al (1996) refuted these findings however by showing that African American students at HBCUs did not differ from White students in how they valued physical education. In fact, the African American students surveyed in the study valued such statements as "Keeping in good health and physical conditioning," "achieving success," "improving self-confidence," and "getting regular exercise" as the most important of 24 statements presented (Quartermann et al 1996, p.196).…”

“…Therefore, it is recommended that physical and exercise education instructors create or develop techniques that foster, nurture, and sustain the self-confidence and self-worth of African American students and in turn utilize such data to make decisions about what areas in their courses to emphasize. According to Quartermann et al (1996), African American students perceive physical education or exercise courses as opportunities for increasing self-worth and self-esteem. Their study concluded that race may not be important in determining whether or not African American students participate in physical education or exercise programs.…”