Evaluating the effectiveness of PESS Departments’ Undergraduate Programs in Greek Universities, in terms of their correlation with PE School Curriculum: Creation and implementation of a criteria-based instrument

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the correlation between the undergraduate programs (Higher Education) offered by Departments of Physical Education and Sport Science (DPESS) and the Physical Education (PE) curriculum followed in Greek Primary (years 6-12) school and Middle (years 13-15) school. Specifically, we aimed to investigate whether the perspective PE teachers were adequately prepared to teach (after their graduation) the thirteen (13) main athletic subjects of the PE school curriculum. Fifteen (15) criteria were developed, in order to evaluate whether the athletic subjects offered by the departments, as described within their annual undergraduate catalogs, adequately prepare their graduates to teach PE in Primary and Middle school. Useful conclusions were drawn concerning: a) the mean values of the fifteen criteria, b) the Trigonometrically transformation of the Multidimensional Scaling solutions (MDS-T), which eventually included thirteen of the fifteen criteria, and c) other selected criteria of the fifteen criteria-based matrix.