A Survey of Health-Related Physical Fitness Knowledge Among Preservice and Inservice Physical Educators

Abstract

The purpose of the investigation was to assess the health-related physical fitness knowledge of preservice and inservice physical educators and graduate students in physical education and exercise physiology. A 40 item multiple choice examination was designed and validated in order to assess knowledge in five domains of health-related fitness: (a) body composition, (b) flexibility, (c) muscular strength, (d) muscular endurance, and (e) cardiovascular conditioning. Results indicated that exercise physiology graduate students surpassed all other groups of participants. They achieved a mean total score of 83.18%, while other participants scored lower with mean total scores ranging between 54.27% and 71.75%. A trend analysis conducted for preservice teachers indicated, however, that knowledge progressively increased with experience in the teacher education program. Explanations for the poor performance of physical education teachers and suggestions for future research are discussed.