Rodrigues MAM, Silva RR, Santos DAT, de Freitas JVR, Gentil P, Vieira CA, Rebelo ACS, Andrade MS, Campos MH, de Conti Teixeira Costa G, Knechtle B, Vancini RL, de Lira CAB. Investigating academic performance and perceptions of human physiology and exercise physiology courses among undergraduate students of physical education at a Brazilian public university.
BMC Med Educ 2024;
24:87. [PMID:
38267948 PMCID:
PMC10807063 DOI:
10.1186/s12909-024-05058-1]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE
To compare the academic performance of undergraduate students in physical education who studied exercise physiology before and after studying human physiology and investigate students' perceptions of human physiology and exercise physiology courses.
METHODS
This study included 311 undergraduate students pursuing a bachelor's degree in physical education. Participants were divided into two groups: those who had previously attended and completed the human physiology course (group 1, n = 212, 68.2%) and those who had not previously attended or had attended but failed the human physiology course (group 2, n = 99, 31.8%). The prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated using a Poisson regression model with a robust variance estimator. The second aim comprised 67 students with bachelor's degrees in physical education who completed an electronic questionnaire about their perceptions of human physiology and exercise physiology curriculum.
RESULTS
Compared with those who attended human physiology and passed, those who had not previously attended or had attended but failed the human physiology course have a higher PR of 2.37 (95% CI, 1.68-3.34) for failing exercise physiology. Regarding the students' perceptions of human physiology and exercise physiology courses, most students reported that they were challenging (58.2% and 64.2%, respectively), but they also recognized the importance of these courses for professional practice (59.7% and 85.1%, respectively).
CONCLUSION
Human physiology should be considered a prerequisite for an undergraduate course leading to a bachelor's degree in physical education. Furthermore, students considered human physiology and exercise physiology courses important yet challenging. Therefore, continuous student assessment is vital for improving the teaching-learning process.
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