{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/34920"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/34920","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"What children think, feel, and know about physical fitness testing","abstract":"For thousands of students this year alone, taking the physical fitness tests will be as much a part of the annual school routine as is the first day of school, lunch, and standardized tests in the classroom. Given this, it becomes relevant to gain some insights into what students think, feel, and know about these tests. For example, do students know why they take the test items? How to improve their performance on the test items? What do they think about taking the tests? Do students who perform well on the tests think differently than those who don't? To answer questions like the above, 54 students in the fourth and fifth grades from two different schools were interviewed two-at-a-time using a semi-structured interview format. Interviews with physical education and other school staff were also conducted to provide for multiple sources of data (triangulation). Audiotaped interviews were transcribed, numbered line-by-line, and analyzed according to qualitative methods. Assertions were developed which were supported by the data. Results indicate that most students have an incomplete, concrete understanding of the purposes and concepts pertaining to the physical fitness tests. Teacher's urging or encouraging behaviors during test administration have a large effect on students feelings about taking the tests, and many times students, especially those who tend to score poorly on the tests, receive negative feedback from their peers in the form of ridicule and embarrassment.","abstract_html":"For thousands of students this year alone, taking the physical fitness tests will be as much a part of the annual school routine as is the first day of school, lunch, and standardized tests in the classroom. Given this, it becomes relevant to gain some insights into what students think, feel, and know about these tests. For example, do students know why they take the test items? How to improve their performance on the test items? What do they think about taking the tests? Do students who perform well on the tests think differently than those who don't? To answer questions like the above, 54 students in the fourth and fifth grades from two different schools were interviewed two-at-a-time using a semi-structured interview format. Interviews with physical education and other school staff were also conducted to provide for multiple sources of data (triangulation). Audiotaped interviews were transcribed, numbered line-by-line, and analyzed according to qualitative methods. Assertions were developed which were supported by the data. Results indicate that most students have an incomplete, concrete understanding of the purposes and concepts pertaining to the physical fitness tests. Teacher's urging or encouraging behaviors during test administration have a large effect on students feelings about taking the tests, and many times students, especially those who tend to score poorly on the tests, receive negative feedback from their peers in the form of ridicule and embarrassment.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hopple, Christine J."],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Education","degree_department":"Education","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Graham, George M."],"committee_members":["Stremmel, Andrew J.","Stratton, Richard K."],"year":1994,"date_issued":"1994-05-01","date_published":"1994-05-01","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:57Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-09042008-063557"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-09042008-063557","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/34920","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Graham, George M."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Stremmel, Andrew J.","Stratton, Richard K."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Education"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hopple, Christine J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:44:46Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:44:46Z","2008-09-04"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1994-05-01"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.dcmitype","label":"Dc Type Dcmitype","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-09042008-063557"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/34920"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["For thousands of students this year alone, taking the physical fitness tests will be as much a part of the annual school routine as is the first day of school, lunch, and standardized tests in the classroom. Given this, it becomes relevant to gain some insights into what students think, feel, and know about these tests. For example, do students know why they take the test items? How to improve their performance on the test items? What do they think about taking the tests? Do students who perform well on the tests think differently than those who don't? To answer questions like the above, 54 students in the fourth and fifth grades from two different schools were interviewed two-at-a-time using a semi-structured interview format. Interviews with physical education and other school staff were also conducted to provide for multiple sources of data (triangulation). Audiotaped interviews were transcribed, numbered line-by-line, and analyzed according to qualitative methods. Assertions were developed which were supported by the data. Results indicate that most students have an incomplete, concrete understanding of the purposes and concepts pertaining to the physical fitness tests. Teacher's urging or encouraging behaviors during test administration have a large effect on students feelings about taking the tests, and many times students, especially those who tend to score poorly on the tests, receive negative feedback from their peers in the form of ridicule and embarrassment."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["BTD"]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["What children think, feel, and know about physical fitness testing"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Graham, George M."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Stremmel, Andrew J.","Stratton, Richard K."],"dc:contributor.department":["Education"],"dc:creator":["Hopple, Christine J."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:44:46Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:44:46Z","2008-09-04"],"dc:date.issued":["1994-05-01"],"dc:description.abstract":["For thousands of students this year alone, taking the physical fitness tests will be as much a part of the annual school routine as is the first day of school, lunch, and standardized tests in the classroom. 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