A study of a method to help college students to increase comments about their college physical education class in terms of quantity

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine a method to help college students to increase comments on their college physical education class in terms of quantity. Methods: Students (n = 248) were randomly assigned to Normal group (N group; n = 132) and Intervention group (I group; n = 116). All the students took a class consisting of a lecture and group work (a consensus game) and were told to write their impressions about the lecture and group work at the end of class. The N group students were distributed a paper written “Your impressions”, while the I group students were distributed a paper written “Your impressions (4 or more)”. Then, we collected all the papers to assess the number of characters and sentences and the content of their comments. Results: The number of characters and sentences was significantly greater in the I group than in the N group (P < 0.001). The instruction of “four or more” approximately quadruplicated the number of those who wrote more than four sentences, although there were no significant differences in the number of characters per sentence or in the rate of those who wrote shorter and/or longer sentences between the both groups. Futhermore, the content of what the I group students wrote was more about communication than that of the N group students (P < 0.05). Compared with keywords of communication, the words such as “jibun”, “group or han”, and “iken” appeared more frequently in the I group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: These findings suggest that, when college students are assigned to write their impressions in a physical education class, the instruction of “four or more” increases the number of characters and sentences and may enhance the effects of reviewing thier lesson content as compared to normal instruction.