High School Students' Attitudes Toward Physical Education in Delaware

It is important to understand high school students' attitudes and perceptions toward physical education since they will be future members of the workforce who will need to use their knowledge to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Content standards are intended to assure that all students meet minimum curricular requirements, however, if students do not find physical education valuable, the content standards may have no meaning either. High school students' attitudes toward their physical education programs in the state of Delaware were studied. These results provide a baseline for further examination of curriculum after implementation of state content standards. The students' (N = 223) attitudes were measured using a 31-item survey. Results indicated approximately 45% of the students would enjoy having more sports or games in their physical education curriculum. The majority (74%) of the students indicated they preferred coeducational classes and 64% preferred working with other students of similar abilities. 43% of the students also indicated that physical education was important to their high school education, rating it just after math, english, and science. Correlation tests revealed that the majority of students who indicated they enjoyed physical education were more likely to enjoy school (p<. 001). Students who engaged in negative health behaviors, that is, smoking, drinking, or using drugs, were less likely to enjoy physical education (p<. 005). These findings are important for designing meaningful high school physical education learning experiences that meet state content standards and for influencing students to continue participating in physical activity.