Attitudes of Charter High School Students Toward Physical Education

ABSTRACT\ud ATTITUDES OF CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS\ud TOWARD PHYSICAL EDUCATION\ud by\ud Jenna Louise Salz\ud Master of Arts in Kinesiology\ud California State University, Chico\ud Summer 2011\ud The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of charter high school student???s toward physical education. Parental consent forms were returned by ninety ???five percent of students. This study involved twenty 9th and 10th grade students from a charter high school in an off campus physical education program. Attitudes were determined using a survey and focus group interviews. Fitness testing was used to analyze student performance. One student was unable to participant in fitness testing due to an injury. One main research question and five sub-questions guided this study. Questions explored student attitudes toward physical education, choice, fitness testing and meaning of physical education. All students completed a validated 20-item attitude survey. Participants completed fitness testing in five areas. Four males and four females randomly selected participated in focus group interviews after completing the survey. Each interview was audio recorded and transcribed for analysis. An inductive analysis\ud approach was used to identify themes; Four themes emerged: 1) ???We don???t have to do a Certain Thing!??? 2) To Like or Not to Like 3) Boring, Old Fitness Testing and 4) Overwhelmed by Multiple Teachers. The results showed that the students in this study had a positive attitude toward physical education. Students found choice in physical education to be positive experience. Students expressed dissatisfaction with rule alterations in sports and games, although they understood the purpose. Although participants had high scores on fitness testing, they did not enjoy it. Participants found teachers to be enthusiastic; however, the multiple undergraduate teachers were less enjoyable for students. Future research is needed to examine charter high school students in various locations and programs to identify attitudes toward physical education.CSU, Chic