Jeff Marsee, MA, ATC Associate Professor in PHP Doctoral Student in Health Education Taylor University – Upland, Indiana

 A course on the importance of wellness, including the spiritual basis, and how individuals can achieve a state of wellness in their lives. Content includes the health-related components of physical fitness, hypokinetic diseases, nutrition, HIV/AIDs, sexuality, substance abuse, cancer, and stress management. Students are expected to engage in a program of regular physical activity during the semester, and a battery of tests is given to assess each student’s level of physical fitness. This course, a requirement of all students, satisfies the first of three general education requirements in PHP.

 Has been in our curriculum for over 20 years  The first of three hours required of all students in PHP  Usually sessions taught teach semester by at least six instructors (class size = ~24)  Each instructor has complete freedom of instruction and the only standardization has been with fitness testing  Student apathy and disinterest has continued to be a problem

 The student becomes the center of the education  The student becomes more responsible for learning and the instructor becomes the facilitator  This system should be flexible, competency- based, and not constrained to place and time  Allows students to take ownership in the content – both in study and in assessment

 Collaborative group learning  Discussions, debates, presentations  Individual student research and discovery  Diet analysis, journaling  Problem-based learning and inquiry  Chronic illness assignment  Hands-on experiential learning  Exercise development plan, authentic assessment activities

 Philosophy of Fitness & Wellness Papers – have traditionally been assigned only at beginning of semester but now has a follow- up required at the end of the semester.  Weekly exercise reports – Little change to the exercise requirement but more emphasis on creating their own programs and developing alternatives  Chronic Illness assignment

 Fitness testing – more focus on the data. Students are able to retrieve the raw scores and see where they fall as compared to their peers.  On-line chapter quizzes – with the use of Blackboard, these can are required to be taken prior to class times in which the content is covered and has enhanced class discussion  Diet Analysis – this has been required for several years. A pilot study has been added.

 Authentic Assessments for each unit  Fitness  Nutrition  Personal health  Final Journal Project –  Chapter 1 - First Philosophy Paper  Chapter 2 – 2 pages describing the 10-week exercise program  Chapter 3 – 1-2 pages on the three modules  Chapter 4 – 1-2 pages describing the impact that wellness has on their Christian walk  Chapter 5 – 1 page paper on the chronic illness assignment  Chapter 6 – Their revised Philosophy Paper

 Energy levels of high school are replaced with decisions about work, classes, social events, and studying.  66% of high school students report getting adequate physical activity but only 44% of the college students report the same (Bray & Kwan, 2006).  CDC suggests that college number is even lower.  Activity levels of college seniors remain the same for up to six years, (Sparling & Snow, 2002).

 Physical inactivity is a serious and pervasive public health problem and is designated on of the priorities in the Healthy People 2010 and Healthy Campuses 2020 objectives (Healthy campus 2010, n.d.).  Recent attention has been directed to the “transition” phase in life when students leave the general control and structure of high school and move into a more independent living situation.  Sullum, Clark & King (2000) describe this time as critical for the adoption and maintenance of exercise behaviors that will linger through the lifetime.

 In many cases, students have not learned how to develop healthy behaviors (Reed, 2007).  McCormick & Lockwood (2006) have shown fitness and wellness knowledge does increase with completion of a required lifetime fitness course by college students fortunate enough to take one.  In addition to the numerous and well-known health benefits of a physically active lifestyle, Bray & Born (2004) described the benefits to academic performance.  A conceptual PE program, in which key concepts are addressed rather that fitness alone, has been found to reverse the downward trend of physical activity during the transition years (Jenkins, 2006).

 Student-centered course is not being used by all the faculty  Variety in content and delivery may need to be addressed  Introduction of guest speakers when possible  Consideration of a modular curricular design

Class Intro 2Fitness Health Nutrition 3Fitness Health Nutrition 4Fitness Health Nutrition 5Fitness Health Nutrition 6 Fitness Health 7 Nutrition Fitness Health 8 Nutrition Fitness Health 9 Nutrition Fitness Health 9 Nutrition Fitness 10Health Nutrition Fitness 11Health Nutrition Fitness 12Health Nutrition Fitness 13Review 14FinalFInalFinal

 Contact Info…. Jeff Marsee Department of PHP Taylor University Upland, IN