The Heart of Matter: Lifestyle Changes for Healthy Living | HLP 1081 | Study Guides, Projects, Research Physical Education and Motor Learning

TITLE III ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

The Heart of the Matter: Lifestyle Changes for Healthy Living

Tammy Sabourin

2003

Health Analysis and Improvement I, HLP 1081

IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM AND CLEAR GOALS

Scientific evidence has linked regular physical activity and positive lifestyle habits to

better health, longevity, quality of life, and total well being. Many students, however, do

not reap the benefits because they are not aware of the impact their lifestyle decisions

will have on their life, they simply do not know how to improve their lifestyle, or are not

motivated to make improvements. Unfortunately, many present lifestyle patterns of

college students at Valencia Community College are such a serious threat to their health

that they actually increase the deterioration rate of the human body and may lead to

premature illness and death. Even though most students may be aware of their unhealthy

behaviors (such as smoking, inactivity, high-fat diets, and excessive stress), they seem

satisfied with life as long as they are free from symptoms of disease or illness. They do

not contemplate change until they suffer a major health problem. It has been my

experience that college students don’t realize the impact of their lifestyle decisions on

their health because they’re young. Many students express that they are going to “enjoy

life now and worry about that stuff later.” They need to understand that present lifestyle

habits, however, dictate their health and well being of tomorrow.

The purpose of the Health Analysis and Improvement I (HLP 1081) course at Valencia

Community College is to promote the concept that a positive, healthy lifestyle can

enhance the quality of one’s life. This course strives to assist students in understanding

and improving their fitness and total well being. The emphasis throughout the course is

on teaching students how to take control of their own personal health and lifestyle habits

so that they can make a continuing, deliberate effort to stay healthy and achieve the

highest potential for well being.

The goals of this action research project are to help the student:

1. Recognize the significance of their lifestyle choices on personal health.

2. Implement positive, effective lifestyle decisions to improve personal health.

This project attempts to assess if the HLP 1081 course at VCC improves the Value, Act

and Think core competency skills of my students as a result of their learning activities in

my class. I hope this project will document that my students are learning their lifestyle

choices make an impact on their present and future health and their ability to make

improvements in their lifestyle is enhanced as a result of this class. It is my goal that

students begin to realize that good health is mostly self-controlled and that the leading

causes of premature death and illness in the United States could be prevented by adhering

to positive lifestyle habits. I believe that my current classroom learning activities have

this result; however, specific assessment for this and the core competencies is necessary

to support my hypothesis. Hopefully my students will not wait until they suffer a major

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TITLE III ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

The Heart of the Matter: Lifestyle Changes for Healthy Living Tammy Sabourin 2003 Health Analysis and Improvement I, HLP 1081 IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM AND CLEAR GOALS Scientific evidence has linked regular physical activity and positive lifestyle habits to better health, longevity, quality of life, and total well being. Many students, however, do not reap the benefits because they are not aware of the impact their lifestyle decisions will have on their life, they simply do not know how to improve their lifestyle, or are not motivated to make improvements. Unfortunately, many present lifestyle patterns of college students at Valencia Community College are such a serious threat to their health that they actually increase the deterioration rate of the human body and may lead to premature illness and death. Even though most students may be aware of their unhealthy behaviors (such as smoking, inactivity, high-fat diets, and excessive stress), they seem satisfied with life as long as they are free from symptoms of disease or illness. They do not contemplate change until they suffer a major health problem. It has been my experience that college students don’t realize the impact of their lifestyle decisions on their health because they’re young. Many students express that they are going to “enjoy life now and worry about that stuff later.” They need to understand that present lifestyle habits, however, dictate their health and well being of tomorrow. The purpose of the Health Analysis and Improvement I (HLP 1081) course at Valencia Community College is to promote the concept that a positive, healthy lifestyle can enhance the quality of one’s life. This course strives to assist students in understanding and improving their fitness and total well being. The emphasis throughout the course is on teaching students how to take control of their own personal health and lifestyle habits so that they can make a continuing, deliberate effort to stay healthy and achieve the highest potential for well being. The goals of this action research project are to help the student:

Recognize the significance of their lifestyle choices on personal health.
Implement positive, effective lifestyle decisions to improve personal health. This project attempts to assess if the HLP 1081 course at VCC improves the Value, Act and Think core competency skills of my students as a result of their learning activities in my class. I hope this project will document that my students are learning their lifestyle choices make an impact on their present and future health and their ability to make improvements in their lifestyle is enhanced as a result of this class. It is my goal that students begin to realize that good health is mostly self-controlled and that the leading causes of premature death and illness in the United States could be prevented by adhering to positive lifestyle habits. I believe that my current classroom learning activities have this result; however, specific assessment for this and the core competencies is necessary to support my hypothesis. Hopefully my students will not wait until they suffer a major

health problem, but will take action now in their present lifestyle habits to dictate their health and well being of tomorrow. Evaluating the impact of the HLP 1081 course on students’ attitude and behavior will inform the instructor about what is helping student learning in the present curriculum and what can be done to improve it in the future. I expect this research project to inform me about what areas students are changing in their lifestyle as a result of this course. This project will also provide insight into specific areas in the curriculum I may need to devote more instruction to and increase learning activities to have a greater impact on my students. ADEQUATE PREPARATION Background: A. Students: At the end of each semester, I ask my students to share in writing if they have made any positive improvements in their lifestyle over the semester that have improved their health. From the responses that I have received over the past five years, it has been apparent they have implemented positive, effective lifestyle choices that have improved their health. While I do pre and post physical fitness assessments, I have never given a pre and post survey of attitudes toward lifestyle decisions and the effect they have on personal health. Many students have verbally indicated at the beginning of the semester that because they were young and felt fine, they didn’t need to worry about lifestyle decisions right now. They just want to enjoy their life right now. Therefore, a pre and post attitude survey may measure their perception of the impact of lifestyle decisions on health as they increase their understanding throughout the course. B. B. Peers: In conversations with my colleagues and even educators of other disciplines, I consistently hear concern over how unhealthy our students are and how they continually choose negative lifestyle habits and don’t seem to realize how it affects them now. It could prove to be very valuable if the HLP 1081 course at VCC has an impact on our students to help them recognize the impact of their lifestyle decisions on their health now and in the future. If it can be documented that students do in fact make numerous positive changes in their lifestyle as a result of taking the HLP 1081 course, it would help increase its credibility as an elective course. I will share the results of this action research project with other HLP professors and my Dean as this information may be valuable in improving the curriculum to improve student learning. C. Literature Angelo, T.A., & Cross, K.P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers. San Francisco: Josey-Bass. Cameron, R., & Best, J.A. (1987). Promoting adherence to health behavior change interventions: Recent findings from behavioral research. Patient Education and Counseling, 10, 139-154.

she learns to make reasoned value judgements and responsible commitments to recognize the significance of their lifestyle decisions on personal health. To achieve the Valencia Core Competency Value, the student must recognize values as expressed in attitudes, choices, and commitments. The student will also apply the Act core competency as he or she is challenged to act purposefully, reflectively, and responsibly by implementing positive, effective lifestyle choices during the semester to improve personal health. To achieve the Valencia Core Competency Act, the student must implement effective decision making strategies and assess the effectiveness of personal behaviors and choices. The student will also apply the Think core competency as he or she is challenged to think critically, analyze, evaluate, and draw conclusions. To achieve the Valencia Core Competency Think, the student must analyze and evaluate present lifestyle decisions and draw conclusions of how to decrease personal risk factors. The course outcomes are to promote the concept that a positive, healthy lifestyle can enhance the quality of one’s life and strives to assist the student in understanding how to take control of his or her own personal health and lifestyle habits to improve their fitness and well being. The emphasis throughout the course is on teaching students how to take control of their own health so they can make a continuing, deliberate effort to stay healthy and achieve the highest potential for well being. APPROPRIATE METHODS:

Learning Outcomes What learning outcomes are you seeking?
1. Performance Criteria How would you know (the outcome) if you saw it? (What will the student be able to do?)
  1. Assessment Techniques How will you measure the criteria listed in #2? (How will you know?)
    1. Instructional Strategies How will you help students prepare for the assessments in item #3? Recognize the significance of lifestyle choices on personal health. Change in attitude toward impact of lifestyle choices on personal health. Pre and post flashlight survey. 15 labs/personal assessments. Minute Paper & Muddiest Point. Lectures/ class discussions. Personal nutritional analysis. Profile Plus CD. Implement positive, effective lifestyle decisions to improve personal health. Specific changes in behavior such as: eating a more nutritious diet, exercising more often, losing weight if needed, lifting weights to improve muscle tone, doing flexibility exercises, limiting or not using alcohol and tobacco, practicing safe sex, identifying and dealing with stressful situations. Pre and post flashlight survey. 15 labs/ personal assessments. Lectures/ class discussions. Personal nutritional analysis. Demonstrations in the fitness center. Profile Plus CD.

To assess if the two learning outcomes have been obtained, students will take pre and post test Flashlight surveys on their “Wellness Lifestyle” and “Wellness Attitudes.” In order to demonstrate an improvement in Value, Action and Think Core Competencies, the scores on the surveys should increase indicating an improvement in the practice of positive health-related lifestyle habits and an increase in awareness of the significance of lifestyle choices on personal health. Throughout the semester a wide array of tools will be used to help students evaluate themselves and determine areas for improvement in their own habits and lifestyle. I will use the “Minute Paper” and the “Muddiest Point” exercises after several of our classroom discussions to assess classroom learning and get feedback from students. This feedback will help me make any instructional adjustments as needed throughout the semester. There will be a variety of learning experiences to address multiple learning styles such as textbook readings, class lectures and discussions, handouts, group work, demonstrations, videos, role-playing, web-based activities, and a comprehensive computer software package that allows students to generate personalized fitness and wellness profiles, conduct self-assessments, analyze their diets, and tailor exercise prescriptions to their individual needs. Classroom discussions and experiential labs will address topics such as cardiorespiratory endurance, body composition assessment, flexibility, muscular strength, fitness and wellness, nutrition, weight management, stress vulnerability and coping with stress, preventing cardiovascular disease, cancer, tobacco abstinence, and HIV/AIDS prevention. A written personal assessment on each topic includes additional open-ended questions designed to promote critical thinking and help students analyze and apply the concepts they have learned. Students will have a Profile Plus CD that offers a comprehensive software package that allows them to generate personalized fitness and wellness profiles, conduct self- assessments, analyze their diets, tailor exercise prescriptions to their individual needs and much more! LIFEMAP STRATEGY: Throughout the semester students are responsible for self-evaluation of their current state of fitness and wellness and determine areas that need improvement in their own habits and lifestyle. Critical thinking and personal application of issues that directly affect their

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TITLE III ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT