During the spring of 2020, school districts across the United States were required to shift to distance learning modalities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic forced schools to close their doors to face-to-face instruction and quickly shift to an online format. While online education is prevalent in the United States, it only serves about…

Active learning spaces form an important part of university learning environments and have the potential to enhance student learning, yet studies on student and faculty perceptions of collaborative learning pedagogies indicate that many remain resistant. To overcome this resistance, an academic department developed and implemented an active…

To better understand key physical education program factors and policies that may affect Texas students' physical fitness, a 39-question survey, administered as part of the Texas Youth Fitness Study (TYFS), was sent to 5,651 Texas schools via e-mail. The survey consisted of five sections: (a) demographics, (b) physical education/recess frequency…

This paper provides observations of physical fitness testing in Texas schools and physical education teachers' insights about large-scale testing using the FITNESSGRAM[R] assessment (Cooper Institute, 2007) as mandated by Texas Senate Bill 530. In the first study, undergraduate and graduate students who were trained to observe and assess student…

US teens are having sex early; however, the vast majority of schools do not implement evidence-based sexual health education (SHE) programs that could delay sexual behavior and/or reduce risky behavior. This study examines middle school staff's knowledge, attitudes, barriers, self-efficacy, and perceived support (psychosocial factors known to…

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. University health and physical education programs have a unique opportunity to assist in childhood obesity prevention through service-learning programs. However, prior to the implementation of service-learning curricula, it is imperative to gain insight in the unique needs of the…