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Further concerns about fitness testing in physical education.
In my previous editorial I discussed two concerns about fitness
testing in physical education; the weak relation between test performance
and physical health in youth, and the difficult task of eliciting
a maximal effort from students being tested.
This column discusses two more reasons why teachers should be apprehensive
about conducting fitness tests with physical education classes.
First, performance on a fitness test provides little indication
of how physically active a student might be. Second, fitness test
results are influenced by factors other than fitness.
Motivation (a psychological characteristic) was mentioned previously;
not all students are prepared to give the maximal effort necessary
to ensure valid test results on items such as the one-mile run,
push-ups or sit-ups. Another non-fitness factor to harm the validity
of fitness tests is the body size of a student. Specifically, differences
in body weight among students in a physical education class contribute
to making fitness test results mean very little.
Is the most fit student in the class also the most physically
active?
Most teachers of ninth-grade physical education classes would correctly
respond "No" to this question. Students whom teachers
suspect engage in unhealthy behaviors (smoking cigarettes, being
physically inactive) can often perform quite well on fitness tests,
or at least better than some physically active students in the class.
Some teachers understand what research studies have reported -
there is a low relation between physical activity behaviors and
fitness in youth. The most active students may not be the most fit
- instead, natural talent (i.e., genetic factors) and motivation
are often responsible for a good fitness test performance. Yet
our common purpose is to promote physical activity. Why? Because
as people get older, the process of being physically active will
override the genetic influence that contributes so strongly to fitness
test performance during the school-age years (for instance, among
middle-aged men, fitness test results do represent the most
physically active individual). The message here is simple - we must
do all that is possible to promote activity; we must also question
whether fitness testing contributes to this goal.
Discrimination against the overweight student.
Students who are overweight are disadvantaged by the fitness tests
teachers choose to use. Unfortunately, the aerobic tests (running),
and the pull-up test simply identify who the heaviest children in
the class (i.e., overweight children will almost always do poorly).
If a teacher decides to fitness test, the first thing that
should be done is to eliminate or 'factor out' the influence of
body weight on test performance. For example, a far better test
for aerobic fitness is one using a bicycle (cycle ergometer) - this
tests the health of the cardiovascular system independent of
body weight. Or, why not put children in a swimming pool and have
them swim 50-100 yards. The finishing order of students would be
quite different in a swimming test as opposed to a running test.
And it would simply be nonsense to suggest to the slow swimmers
(perhaps the good runners) that they are physically unfit on the
basis of their swimming results!
Of course, cycle ergometers and swimming pools may not be available
for many teachers. Instead, the running track or gymnasium dictates
the test protocol. Thus, teachers conduct tests that are the most
convenient - and in the process, disregard (perhaps unknowingly)
just how little meaning the results of these biased fitness tests
really have.
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Students beginning university lack health and fitness knowledge.
It is unfortunate that health and fitness knowledge among some
first and second year university students is quite poor. I
have taught at two large research universities and at each institution,
only a small number of students (regardless of their educational
major) possessed an adequate understanding of facts, concepts, theories,
and issues within the the area of 'health and fitness'. The same
is true of my students at the small state university where I currently
teach.
What students don't know: There is a lot students don't
know: basic anatomy and physiology; the relation between physical
activity, and health outcomes; how to improve fitness; risk factors
for specific diseases; what to eat (what not to eat); what the term
'exercise prescription' means; self-management skills; and the influence
of body weight on health. This is by no means an exhaustive list,
but it does reflect important content knowledge within health and
fitness.
In addition to content knowledge, higher order thinking skills
are, sometimes, barely evident within the university classroom.
This is also unfortunate as the area of health and fitness is is
an area of study that requires students to question, analyze, discover,
reason, and reflect. As the authors of an article in Scientific
American (writing on high school science) so aptly stated:
"What students need … are higher order thinking skills… to
distinguish evidence from propaganda, probability from certainty,
rational beliefs from superstitions, data from assertions, science from folklore, theory
from dogma"(The False
Crisis in Science Education, Scientific American, October
1999)
Why students don't know: There is one reason why beginning
university students lack knowledge in health and fitness - a poor
high school education. Either health and fitness is not being taught
in schools, or the teaching of the content is poor. Who is to blame
for these circumstances? In the former case, it may be an uninformed
school administration who denies teachers the opportunity to teach
health and fitness concepts. In the latter, questions can be raised
about the quality of high school physical education teachers, many
of whom are unprepared to teach the content knowledge or unable
to develop in their students, higher order thinking skills. I will
restrict my closing comments to teachers only.
If teachers are unprepared, then teacher education programs are
at fault. University departments that prepare health and fitness
teaching professionals must take a long and hard look at their current
practices. Because something is not working. The best evidence a
university has on how effective their teacher preparation program
is, the extent of health and fitness knowledge possessed by freshman
students. The evidence is not encouraging, if my observations (from
six-years university teaching experience) are correct.
What should health and fitness teacher preparation programs look
like? I would welcome your ideas.
Darren
Dale
Health and Fitness Section Editor
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| Keeping
current on nutrition research
It is important for teachers and parents to keep up-to-date on
the latest nutrition information for children and adolescents. An
informative site is the of the Children's
Nutrition Research Center (CNRC). The information is trustworthy,
and broad in scope.
Another strong site containing a variety of information on child
and adolescent health, is well worth adding to your favorites.
A comprehensive list of topics is covered, the site is easy to navigate,
and the information is reliable. Note however, that the information
is written for non-scientific readers, and as a consequence, generalizations
are made. For example, under the topic of vegan diets: "Is
a vegan diet healthy for an active, growing child? Absolutely. Children
raised on a vegan diet eat more fruits and vegetables than their
meat-eating counterparts. They are sick less often..."
Such claims are very hard to verify, as nutritional researches will
always have difficulty accurately assessing food intake, or controlling
for the numerous factors that may contribute to children being sick.
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A Question
of Intent is a fascinating read for all public health professionals.
Written by David Kessler, former commissioner for the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration, the book details the devastating influence
of the tobacco industry on our nation's health.
The blurb on the cover of Bitter
Harvest (by Ann Cooper) states "A chef's perspective
on the hidden dangers in the foods we eat and what you can do
about it". The link provided is to the publisher's website
(Routledge). This book provides a unique perspective on 'what
we eat' and material within this new book could easily be incorporated
into high school health education curricula. The publisher
provides the following:
"Part exposé, part consumer guidebook, this carefully researched
and readable work highlights the connections between the food we
eat and the conditions of its production. In doing so, it offers
practical advice on how the average shopper can contribute toward
both a healthier food supply and a more sustainable environment".
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