Effects of a Physical Activity and Public Health Course on Exercise Behavior, Perceived Exercise, and Technology Dependence

Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to examine the effect of physical activity and public health courses on perceived exercise benefits/barriers, stages of exercise behavior change, and technology dependence of undergraduate students, and 2) to explain how the physical activity and public health course supports undergraduate stu-dents in terms of physical activity awareness. Data were gathered from 47 university students (nexperimental group=27, ncontrol group = 20) in an urban area public university. Participants in the experimental group attended a 13-week classroom-based physical activity and public health course. The control group just participated in their regular courses. Data were collected from three different questionnaires: stages of exercise behav-ior change,perceptions of exercise benefits/barriers, and technology dependence of university students at pre-tests and post-tests. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with 8 participants in the experimental group.Results showed that there was not any statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test results on technol-ogy dependence and perceived exercise benefits/barriers. In terms of stages of exercise behavior change, students in the experimental group were more active than those in the control group in the post-test. Semi-structured interviews revealed that students learn about physical activity and its benefits, as well as the importance of infrastructure in participating in physical activity. They also tend to be more active than they were in the past. Although they did not change their technology usage, they searched for useful content related to nutrition and physi-cal activity plans. In conclusion, according to their expression, they increased their knowledge and awareness of physical activity and its impact on public health. Further studies might integrate the practi-cal sessions into this type of intervention to evaluate its effectiveness on perceived benefits/barriers, physical activity level, and technology dependence of university students.