Analysis of adolescent satisfaction with the quality of their physical education classes

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveA lack of movement in adolescence is a pressing issue for modern society. Physical education at school can have a major influence on the movement habits of adolescents, since it can offer curriculum that gives students ideas for leisure time while entertaining them and also respecting physical fitness goals. The aim of this work is to analyze student satisfaction with physical education classes at secondary vocational schools.MethodsCategories were created based on week-long monitoring of walking. Based on the number of steps, students were divided into four categories: active girls/boys and hypoactive girls/boys. In another part of the study, the students filled out the questionnaire created by Antala et al. (2012). Responses to questions regarding questions about unpopular activities, dread of specific activities, and more frequent inclusion of specific activities in PE classes. A χ2 independence test was used to compare data between individual student categories in the combination table.ResultsThe health recommendations for minimum daily number of steps are met by 65.4% of boys and 75.8% of girls aged 15–16 years. Chi-squared test showed the greatest difference in satisfaction with physical education (P-value <0.001) between the hypoactive groups of students. Hypoactive boys are significantly more satisfied with the activities in PE class than hypoactive girls. Dread is more often present among girls than boys and is particularly associated with gymnastics. Activities that students wanted to do more often included ball games (football for boys, volleyball for girls), strength training (listed by 32% of hypoactive boys) and exercise to music (listed by 49% of hypoactive girls).ConclusionsWe believe that the proper choice of PE activities can increase the popularity of the class, and thus influence the exercise habits of adolescents, including those who are found to have insufficient physical activity.