Thesis (M.S. Ed.)--Northern Illinois University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [54]-56).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-192).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-79). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-79).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University

M.Comm. / Physical education and school sport are for the majority of students the only opportunity to be involved in physical activity and sport. In the new educational system, where physical education is being phased out due to the new teacherpupil ratios, school sport has to take over the role of physical education. The focus has shifted to school sport to fulfill the educational role, in terms of sport previously done by physical education. A case study was done at a school where the management of educationally justified school sport and physical activities was analyzed. The problem of what the management of the educationally justified school sport and physical activity would entail is seen as the central point of this study. To solve this main problem three sub-problems should be addressed, namely: • what educationally justified school sport and physical activities entail? • what the management of school sport and physical activities entail? • how the management of educationally justified school sport and physical activities manifested in a school? As a result of the problem statement, the all-encompassing aim of this study is to develop criteria for the management of educationally justified school sport and physical activities. In order to achieve this all-encompassing aim, it was necessary to: • describe the role of educationally justified school sport and physical activities~ • analyze and describe the management of school sport and physical activities; and • analyze the management of educationally justified school sport and physical activities in a school. To find possible solutions to the stated main- and sub-problems, the development of children and the role the school has to play in that development was described in the literature study. Management and all the different management functions were also described in the literature study. A case study was undertaken to analyze and describe the management of educationally justified sport and physical activities in a school. A questionnaire was compiled and handed out to the teachers involved in school sport and physical activities to complete. A structured interview was also compiled and iv the two members of the top management involved with sport and physical activities were interviewed. The following conclusions were drawn from the literature survey research: • school sport and physical activities will be educationally justified if children are led to achieving an all round development through their participation in school sport and physical activities. • it is essential that teachers realise that sport and physical activities are an extension of the classroom and it can be used as a tool in the development of children to total adulthood. • for management to be successful it needs to adhere to the following functional areas. This includes: • the marketing function; • the external relations function; • the financial function; • the human resources function; • facility and event management; • risk management. The following conclusions were drawn from the case study: • educationally justified sport and physical activities are not managed according to drawn up criteria. • some functional areas are managed properly while others don't get any attention. • a good starting point will be to set a vision and mission for school sport and physical activities. • more people could be involved in strategic management for school sport and physical activities.

A substantial amount of evidence exists which strongly suggests that elementary school teachers play a significant role in the socialization process through the inculcation of value and attitude systems in their students. Further, it is the teacher's own personal set of attitudes and beliefs that are either knowingly or unknowingly communicated. In this regard, the researcher undertook the systematic study of attitudes held by Vancouver elementary school teachers toward physical activity as manifest in sports and games, in an effort to gain some understanding of the role played by the elementary school system in influencing values held by children for physical activity. A sample of 135 non-specialist, elementary school, classroom teachers was drawn from the Vancouver Public School system. Each subject was requested to complete and return to the researcher, a copy of "Kenyon's Attitude Inventory." The data gleaned from the completed inventories was statistically analyzed through univariate analysis of variance techniques to determine what, if any, differences existed in teacher attitudes held toward physical activity, as a function of their sex, age and grade levels taught. With the exceptions of an age x level interaction effect for the ascetic subdomain for female teachers and a statistically significant, more positive attitude held by older as opposed to younger female teachers toward the vertigo subdomain, the attitudes held by Vancouver elementary school teachers toward physical activity failed to differentiate according to the sex, age, and grade levels taught criteria. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an accelerated physical education programme on various physical and motor development factors of kindergarten and grade two students. The physical and motor development factors investigated were: 1. Physical Development: height, weight, lung capacity, arm and thigh girth, chronological age, and skeletal age. 2. Motor Ability and Agility: standing broad jump and shuttle run. 3. Strength: grip strength, flexed arm bar hang. 4. Cardiovascular Appraisal: submaximal work task. One hundred students of Sir Richard McBride Elementary School of Vancouver, British Columbia participated in the study. In each grade the pupils were divided into one experimental group and one control group. All groups were pretested, the exception being the grade two control group. Administrative difficulties made this not possible. For the final tests, a total of forty-one subjects were randomly selected from the four groups. The subjects of the control groups followed a programme outlined by the Department of Education of British Columbia under the guidance of the homeroom teacher. The grade two control group met twice weekly, for forty minute periods. The kindergarten control group met twice weekly, for twenty minute periods. The subjects of the experimental groups followed a programme designed and administered by the investigator. The grade two experimental group met three times weekly, for forty minute periods. The kindergarten experimental group met three times weekly, for twenty minute periods. The grade two experimental period was fifteen weeks in duration, and the kindergarten experimental period was twelve weeks in length. There were found to be no statistically significant differences in the final means of both groups other than the following exceptions. The grade two control group mean chronological age was significantly older than the grade two experimental group’s chronological age with a t-value of 2.43, significant at the .05 level. The flexed arm bar hang score of kindergarten control was significantly better at the .05 level, t = 2.54, than that of the kindergarten experimental group. The grade two experimental group had a significantly lower steady heart rate than did the grade two control group (t = 2.24). All groups made improvement in all variables. Significant improvements at the .01 level of confidence were demonstrated in standing broad jump (t = 4.09, grade two experimental), flexed arm bar hang (t = 4.37, kindergarten control). Significant improvements at the .05 level were demonstrated in lung capacity (t = 2.38, kindergarten experimental), shuttle run (t = 2.28, kindergarten control). While the results of this study do not show conclusively that an accelerated physical education programme benefits the growth and physical development of primary school children, the concept initiating this project does have merit. A more constructive evaluation of the programme's objectives could be obtained with an extended period of participation, at least one school year. Further recommendations seem warranted in view of the results of this study. More attention should be given to the time for testing and a sufficient number of personnel assigned to.this aspect of the study. The control group programme should be monitored to insure a true comparison of activities. The accelerated physical education programme could be reviewed to strengthen those areas which appear weak. It must be recorded here that more research is needed in elementary school physical education. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an accelerated and a regular physical education programme on various physical and motor traits of grade one, three, and four children. Two hundred children of Sir Richard McBride Elementary School of Vancouver, British Columbia participated in the study. Two classes in each grade were selected for one experimental and one control group. All experimental classes were tested initially. Fifty-four students of the two hundred control and experimental participants were randomly selected and were tested at the end of the programme. The physical and motor development traits investigated were: 1. Physical Development: height, weight, lung capacity, arm and thigh girths, chronological age, skeletal age. 2. Motor Ability and Agility: standing broad jump, shuttle run. 3. Strength: left and right grips strength, flexed arm bar hang. 4. Cardiovascular Appraisal: submaximal work task. The subjects of the control groups followed the programme outlined by the Department of Education of British Columbia for physical education. The programme was administered by the respective classroom teachers. These groups met twice weekly, for forty minute periods. Exception to the above is grade four, who met three times per week. The subjects of the experimental groups followed a programme designed and administered by the investigator. These groups met three times per week, for forty minute periods. The programme for both experimental and control groups extended over a period of 15 weeks. Review of the final results indicates no statistically significant difference between the two groups, with the exception of the thigh girth for grade three control group. The t value was 2.66, significant beyond the .05 level. The subjects in grade three control group were taller and heavier. It is interesting to note that although the grade three control group was younger chronologically and skeletally, they surpassed the grade three experimental group in all test items, with the exception of standing broad jump. The final results of the experimental group indicate improvement in all variables. Significant improvements beyond the .01 level were demonstrated in standing broad jump (t = 7.78 for grade three, and t = 10.29 for grade four) ; flexed arm bar hang (t = 3.23 for grade four); thigh girth (t = 3.20 for grade three); at the .05 level in shuttle run (t = 2.39 for grade three) . The interpretation of the investigation shows only a marginal difference between the control and experimental groups, in favor of the latter. This difference, however, cannot be considered beyond the limitations of this study. However, this is not to deny the possibility that a more intensive physical education programme, such as administered by the investigator to the experimental groups, may enhance the physical and motor development of children. It seems that such a programme, on a long-term basis, can contribute to the improvement of the physical capacity of children. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to assess student attitudes toward teacher behaviour and program content within physical education in grades 3, 7, and 10. Prior to examining the data, five hypotheses were generated. It was hypothesized that: 1. Student attitudes toward teacher behaviour within physical education are different in grade 3, grade 7, and grade 10. 2. Student attitudes toward program content within physical education are different in grade 3, grade 7, and grade 10. 3. Male and female attitudes toward teacher behaviour within physical education are different from each other at each grade level. 4. Male and female attitudes toward program content within physical education are different from each other at each grade level. 5. Those students who like their physical education classes have different attitudes toward teacher behaviour from those students who do not like their physical education classes. 6. Those students who like their physical education classes have different attitudes toward program content from those students who do not like their physical education classes. A thirty statement questionnaire was developed for use in the study. Fifteen statements pertained to teacher behaviour, fourteen statements pertained to program content, and one statement asked students whether they liked their physical education classes. Five grade 3 classes, five grade 7 classes, and five grade 10 classes were randomly selected to partake in the study. The data involving grades were analyzed using a one way analysis of variance. The data involving gender and preference for physical education classes were analyzed using a t-test. Results indicated that a positive attitude existed toward teacher behaviour and program content by males and females in each of the grades. However, it was found that there was a significant difference in student attitudes toward teacher behaviour and program content in grades 3, 7, and 10. Furthermore, no significant difference was found in male and female attitudes toward teacher behaviour in grade 3 or grade 10, although, there was a significant difference in male and female attitudes toward teacher behaviour in grade 7. No significant difference was found in males' and females' attitudes towards program content in grade 3, 7, and 10. A significant differencewas found between students who liked their physical education classes and those who did not like their physical education classes for both teacher behaviour and program content. Recommendations for future research suggest that the survey instrument be limited to statements on either teacher behaviour or program content. It is also recommended that a larger sample size be used and that students of both physical education specialists and non-specialists be compared. It appears that more research is also needed to determine why grade 7 student attitudes are not as positive as those of grade 3 or grade 10 students. Finally, future research could look at physically fit and/or highly skilled students in relation to poorly fit and/or low skilled students to determine the effect these factors may have on student attitudes toward physical education. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate