Trends in the general education requirement of physical education/wellness at Christian colleges

While some researchers suggest that physical education/wellness has lost ground in the general education curriculum, others argue that some institutions have become more committed to health and wellness. This ambiguity necessitates that the discipline's leadership become aware of current trends and sense specific needs to maintain centrality to the general education curriculum.;The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of administrators in physical education programs toward the wellness requirement at institutions affiliated with the Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities. Furthermore, the study examined how physical education/wellness departments formulated their educational philosophies and objectives in relation to the general education requirement. Finally, the study examined administrative tendencies and evaluation processes associated with the general education requirement.;The data were collected using a survey which examined the trends of the physical education/wellness course within the general education curriculum. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Means, standard deviations, and frequency tables were used to report trends and correlational analyses were used to examine relationships between the requirement and characteristics of the course.;Based on the findings, most institutions required physical education/wellness (92.6%) and nearly three-fourths responded that no institutional change had occurred to the general education requirement within the past five years. However, a majority (60.6%) of departments had initiated internal departmental change. The following characteristics described the required physical education/wellness course: 67.2 percent of the institutions had adopted a multi-dimensional pedagogy, 63.2 percent did not exempt students from the course, and the most common activities were tennis, weight training, and golf. The study found strong agreement that a physical component was part of institutions' missions and that departmental philosophy reflected the mission of their institution. Also, there was agreement that the integration of faith and learning was important with personal lifestyle and lecture as the preferred strategy of integration. Finally, correlational analyses revealed a weak significant relationship between the requirement of a physical education/wellness and instructors reflection of the departmental philosophy. Course characteristics having significant relationship with required physical education/wellness were course enrollment, departmental review, and the activity classes of jogging, badminton, and swimming.