The relationship between class activity levels and stated attitudes toward physical activity

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the class activity level to the stated attitude toward physical activity for community college students. The subjects for study were community college students enrolled in their first college level physical education classes. The activity level of each class was classified by the instructor as being either no aerobic activity, moderate aerobic activity or high aerobic activity. A modified version of Keynon\u27s Attitude Toward Physical Activity was the instrument used as a pretest and again as a posttest at the end of the one-semester classes. The A.T.P.A. consists of 54 statements that require the selection of a response that falls on a seven-item Likert Scale. The data were evaluated to determine whether the activity level of the class, the sex of the student or the age of the student was a factor of the mean score for the attitude change. A correlation matrix was developed which showed moderate correlation between pretest-posttest scores. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated there was a difference in the mean scores across the activity levels. Miltivariate analyses of covariance were perfomed controlling for pretest differences across activity levels, sex, and age. No difference was found. Class activity level, sex, and age are not factors of attitude change toward physical activity. It is recommeneded that this study be replicated with a larger population and more subjects in the higher level aerobic classes. A similar study might be done that controls for the effect of the instructor