The Kinesiology Curriculum: Using Student Responses to Evaluate Course Content

The academic discipline of kinesiology is relatively new (1960s) and is devoted to the study of human movement. The knowledge base and subject of study continues to develop and now includes inquiry regarding the impact of physical activity on health, society, and quality of life. The purpose of this course content evaluation was to identify kinesiology students’ views on the addition of public health content in the curriculum. A lecture addressing the background history of public health, with supported reading, was given to forty students enrolled in an upper level Bachelor of Kinesiology-health course. Students were advised of the inclusion of this topic on the final exam and that their responses would be used to inform future direction of the course material. Students were asked to provide their opinion, through a written response to the question: Does public health belong in the Faculty of Kinesiology? A content analysis was employed and seven themes were identified from students’ responses. The themes highlighted professional experience, enhanced leadership, and health promotion and physical activity’s contribution to health. In summary, students positively evaluated the inclusion of public health within the kinesiology curriculum and perhaps this is not surprising given the scoring associated with the question. Despite this limitation, students provided insightful responses worthy of reflection that should be considered in a dialogue about the inclusion of public health content in the kinesiology curriculum.

Investigating 24-Hour Movement Behaviours of Children and Youth Attending Summer Camps

The KiSS UC study (n=224) measured all four movement behaviours from the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines: light physical activity (LPA), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sleep, and sedentary behaviour (SB). The study objectives were to determine the: 1) proportion of participants meeting those guidelines, 2) factors associated with meeting the guidelines (sex, age, camp type, ethnicity, number of other children in the household, parent education), and 3) out-of-camp activities engaged in. Garmin vivofits measured LPA and sleep; Garmin heart rate monitors and Actihearts measured MVPA; SB and out-of-camp activities were assessed using questionnaires (CAPL, CPAQ, respectively). A large proportion of participants met the LPA (88%), MVPA (100%), sleep (65%), and SB (78%) guidelines. Age, parent education, sex, and number of other children in the household were significant predictors for sleep and SB. In summary, summer camps may be a setting where each of the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines can be met