A Survey of physical education programs in the community colleges of North Carolina.

Abstract

A Survey of Physical Education Programs in the Community Colleges of North Carolina was a study done during the 1996--1997 academic school year. All fifty-eight community colleges in the state were sent a thirty-three item questionnaire that was divided into seven areas. The areas investigated were: characteristics of the institution, physical education faculty, physical education curriculum (service/activity classes), physical education service/activity program evaluation procedures, articulation: transfer between colleges, professional physical education program, and facilities.

There were thirty-three community college representatives who responded to the questionnaire. These responses led to the following findings: more male faculty than female faculty was employed; prior teaching experience was not a prerequisite for teaching physical education in the North Carolina Community College System; service/activity courses met twice a week for 50--60 minutes; increased interest was noted in fitness activities, weight control, and recreational activities; service/activity class grades were included in overall grade point average and honors for graduation; physical education majors reported no problems transferring from community colleges to the four-year institutions in North Carolina; first aid and safety, personal health, and anatomy and physiology were the professional physical education classes most often offered; and facilities were found to be adequate to meet student needs.

The study provides descriptive data on the physical education programs of the community colleges of North Carolina as of 1996. No study of the physical education programs in the community colleges of North Carolina had been conducted since 1976 and many changes had occurred during those twenty years. The community colleges of North Carolina converted the academic year from the quarter designation to the semester designation after the 1996--1997 school year.