The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of exercise self-efficacy (Exercise SE) and resilience of college students took in sports practical course (Pr C) or health and sport psychology course (Ps C), and further investigate regulatory factors of resilience from their Exercise SE, sport experience, and other related factors. Three hundred and four college students participated in the study. The S-H Resilience test (R test) consisting of three factors, (Social support factor, Self-efficacy factor, and Sociality factor) and Exercise SE scale were given to the students in the first class (pre-course survey) and last class (post-course survey). A two-way factorial analysis of variance with Exercise SE, Social support factor, Self-efficacy factor, and Sociality factor, and R test as dependent variables on course factors (Pr C and Ps C) and timing factors (pre-course and post-course) were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that main effect of the course factor was significant on all of the dependent variables. It also implied that the Ps C students intentionally avoided taking a sports practical course because of their awareness of having low Exercise SE and Resilience. On the other hand, the Pr C students proactively took a practical sports course because of their awareness of having high Exercise SE and Resilience. Self-efficacy factor of the R test showed significant interaction between course factor and timing factor. The Pr C students had a significantly higher score in the post-course survey compared to the pre-course survey, and the Ps C students had a significantly lower score in the post-course survey compared to the pre-course survey. A significantly higher score was also shown in the Pr C students than the Ps C students on the Self-efficacy factor in the post-course survey. This implies that practical sports course can contribute to developing self-efficacy resilience. A multiple regression analysis using the R test at pre-course survey as a dependent variable revealed that exercise SE was the regulatory factor in both courses. However, the number of years of sport experience was not identified as a regulatory factor. This result indicated that high exercise SE developed by having sport experience was the factor providing resilience rather than how long the sport experience was.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among perceived motivational climates and perceived benefits scale of physical education in university students. Our basic study model was that the presence of 2 motivational climates (mastery climate and performance climate) would influence to promote perceived benefits of physical education. The sample comprised 1370 university students (mean age=19.0±0.6years) who were four-year universities and were taking physical education course. The measures used included a questionnaire on motivational climates in physical education (2 sub-scales: “mastery climate”and “performance climate”), and perceived benefits scale (5 sub-scales: “Acquisition of exercise skills and training methods”, “Understanding the importance of cooperative play and improvement in communication skills”, “Stress coping and arousal of positive feeling”, “Improvements in physical strength and physical activities,” and “Establishment of regular lifestyles”). The validity of this model was verified using structural equation modeling by every 4 groups (male-individual sporting events (n=408), female-individual sporting events (n=463), male-team sporting events (n=308), female-team sporting events (n=191) ). The results of study suggested the following processes: (1) The mastery climate had a positive influence on perceived benefits of physical education. (2) The performance climate had a positive influence on “Improvements in physical strength and physical activities” and “Establishment of regular lifestyles”. (3) The performance climate had a positive influence on “Acquisition of exercise skills and training methods” (female-individual sporting events group and female-team sporting events group). (4) The performance climate had a negative influence on “Understanding the importance of cooperative play and improvement in communication skills” (male-team sporting events group and female-team sporting events group). (5) The performance climate had a negative influence on “Stress coping and arousal of positive feeling” (male-team sporting events group only). In conclusion, to enhance perceived benefits with physical education course, it is important for teachers to cultivate a mastery climate.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between description amount in college specialized subject notebooks and the seriousness and proficiency of specialized subject for participants in department of physical education (focusing on high jump). Methods: One hundred eighty-seven female participants in department of physical education were recruited. We collected their college specialized subject notebooks after the semester and counted the number of Japanese characters within them. Based on ascending order of number of Japanese characters and experience for high jump, college students were assigned to six groups (inexperienced lower, middle, and upper and experienced lower, middle, and upper). The seriousness and proficiency for high jump for participants in specialized subject class were evaluated using a visual analog scale (VAS). The seriousness and proficiency for high jump for participants were evaluated using a two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), including the factors of experience (experienced/inexperienced) and number of Japanese characters (lower/middle/upper). Results: A two-way ANOVA for the seriousness revealed a significant interaction between experience and number of Japanese characters. In the inexperienced group, the seriousness for high jump for participants was higher in the upper group than in the lower group. In the experienced group, the seriousness for high jump for participants did not differ among groups. In the upper group, the seriousness for high jump for participants was higher in the inexperienced group than in the experienced group. For the proficiency for high jump for participants, neither a group effect nor an interaction was found. Discussion: Our findings provide further evidence that writing in specialized subject notebooks is related to students’ seriousness regarding physical education. Previous studies reported that students carefully self-monitored their own performance by writing in a physical education notebook. Individuals writing higher description amount in college specialized subject notebooks showed the higher seriousness for high jump.

New physical education class combining lectures and exercise practice was started in cooperation with private fitness clubs. In this report, we discuss the characteristics of students who attended the class and changes in the physical strength before and after the class. The class consisted of guidance, physical fitness measurements before and after the class, lectures on exercise (2 times), and practical training at the fitness club (10 times). University faculty members carried out lectures, physical fitness measurement etc., and instructors of fitness clubs carried out practical training of physical exercise. The capacity of the class was set to 30 students. Students needed to pay out-of-pocket expense of 10,000 yen as the facility usage fee. In the first year, 23 students took the class. For the grades of the students, about half of them was the first graders, and accounted for 47.8%. On the other hand, the third graders and the fourth grader accounted for 17.4% and 26.1%, respectively; and the ratio of these upper graders was higher as compared with other practical subjects. For changes in the physical form and strength before and after the class, significant decrease in the body weight (p = 0.002), BMI (p = 0.002) and body fat percentage (p = 0.000) and significant improvement in anteflexion in standing (p = 0.028) and standing with eyes closed (p = 0.005) were observed. In the questionnaire on the class performed after the completion of class, there were many positive opinions to the class. Changes in the physical form and strength before and after the class were observed by introducing class in cooperation with private fitness clubs. In addition, there were many positive opinions to the class. In universities that do not have dedicated exercise facilities, it may be possible to provide more attractive physical education classes in cooperation with local resources in the future.

The concept of “life skills,” which is extremely close to the will of living, is attracting attention as a strength that contributes to character building, which is a goal of education. There is an expectation that sporting activities can be a strategy for acquiring life skills; however, not all sports activities necessarily have a positive effect in this regard. Shimamoto and Ishii (2007) suggested that four experiences in university physical education classes (i.e., self-disclosure, challenge, cooperation, and enjoyment) might contribute to life skills and that, notably, self-disclosure experiences potentially promote life-skill acquisition. However, no practical research, verifying this at educational sites, have been conducted, and no situational evidence related to whether self-disclosure activities do increase life-skill acquisition has been presented. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to specifically present the design and process of a university physical education course intended to improve life skills through self-disclosure. First, improvements to prior courses were identified and organized into: 1) achievement targets, 2) implementation contents, and 3) grade evaluation methods. Based on these results, a university physical education course was designed with the intention of improving life skills through self-disclosure experiences, utilizing findings from prior research in fields such as sports pedagogy, sports psychology, and educational technology. Specifically, the following five points were modified and improved for a course that used softball as educational material. These were: 1) accelerating team organization and introducing the “sibling team system;” 2) modifying methods and increasing the frequency of ice-breakers; 3) setting up mid-game team meetings; 4) sharing reflective content with others; and 5) modifying content of comment sheets and utilizing a Learning Management System (LMS). As in this paper, recording and publishing information related to the improvement process of university physical education courses is one of the most effective ways to pass on the evidence of university physical education teachers' class improvement efforts to later generations.

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the characteristics of students who registered for the ASASPO Club and those who did not. Data were collected from 3683 students who participated in a questionnaire survey on exercise ability tests and exercise, sports, and lifestyle and from students who have not received exercise ability tests; those students who did not answer all the questionnaires were excluded from the analysis. Therefore, analysis was conducted on the data collected from 3196 participants; among the male respondents of the survey, 122 had registered for the ASASPO club and 1716 had not registered. Also, 1164 female respondents did not register for the club and 194 had registered. Respondents’ basic characteristics and factors related to registration were recorded. On the basis of this information, the students with high exercise ability and those with high weight and BMI were registered with ASASPO Club while the difference in basic characteristics was not related to registration among female students. Factors related to registration were analyzed using decision trees. This analysis was based on the results obtained from a questionnaire survey concerning to exercise, sports, and lifestyles conducted in a class of first-year university students. The results of the analysis indicated that “sex” was the most important factor affecting registrations to the ASASPO Club. Further, male students intending to begin exercising within six months or those who were already engaged in continuous fitness activities tended to register for the club. Female students desirous of exercising for less than 30 minutes were tended to register with the club to use its on-campus facilities even after the end of the physical education. Furthermore, it became clear that the faculty to which the student belongs and the month when the classes were conducted also affected registrations to the ASASPO Club. It is necessary to understand the characteristics of registrants in further detail and to improve continuity in program participation.

The purpose of this study was to obtain useful materials in examining the function of the Athletic Director of a university in Japan. Currently, interest in university sports is increasing in Japan. Some universities have established a department to manage competitive sports activities, similar to the role of the Athletic Department in the United States. Moreover, the university that appoints a sports administrator as an operator of sports activities is beginning to appear. In the United States, the Athletic Director is generally appointed as the Executive Director in charge of managing the department. On the one hand, this has been shown, in previous research, to play an essential role at the university. On the other hand, studies have not yet been conducted to investigate what is expected and what function is actually performed by the director in the departments currently established at universities in Japan. Therefore, in this research, we conducted interview surveys with a person who has a rich experience as a sports administrator at a university as well as Athletic Directors at multiple universities in the United States. Then, obtaining useful materials in examining the function of the Athletic Director in a university Athletic Department was tried. As a result of the interviews, it was established that there are four main duties required of the Athletic Director at United States universities. These are: "management and finance," "human resources," "academic management," and "compliance". The details of each duty were explored through the interviews. The function of Athletic Director in universities in the United States covers diverse aspects, and it could be seen as an essential function in the university. In the future, it will be desirable to clarify the current situation of Athletic Directors in Japan, compared with the function of their counterparts in the United States, which was the focus of this research.

The purpose of this study was to examine the similarities and differences in the relationships between kyudo (Japanese archery) college athletes’ psychological skills and performance among the following three different sport value orientations: “enjoyment orientation,” “self-discipline orientation,” and “winning orientation.” A questionnaire survey was conducted for the participants in the 66th All Nippon Intercollege Kyudo Championship. As a result, 1,302 kyudo college athletes provided useable data, and of these, 458 (36.1%), 539 (42.5%), and 271 (21.4%) were categorized in the “enjoyment orientation,” “self-discipline orientation,” and “winning orientation,” respectively. Multiple regression analyses were performed separately across the three orientation groups with seven psychological skills as independent variables (imagination ability, relaxation, perseverance, calmness, confidence, courtesy, and breath control) and non-competitive and competitive performances as dependent variables with demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, grade) and kyudo experience as control variables. The results indicated that (a) imagination ability, perseverance, calmness, and breath control related to non-competitive performance and perseverance, and calmness related to competitive performance among college athletes with enjoyment orientation, (b) imagination ability, perseverance, and confidence related to non-competitive performance and imagination ability, perseverance, and calmness related to competitive performance among those with self-discipline orientation, and (c) perseverance, calmness, confidence, and breath control related to non-competitive performance and only confidence related to competitive performance among those with winning orientation. The self-discipline orientation is traditional and contains unique values of martial arts. It was revealed that this orientation’s psychological skill was higher than the other two orientations. Additionally, this research suggests that a traditional and unique value of martial arts reflected in the self-discipline orientation plays an important role in promoting sport as culture and in improving college athletes’ performance. Although their orientation appears to vary depending on their physical skills, it is common to try achieving the ultimate goal of kyudo (truth, goodness, and beauty) regardless of the orientation. This research indicates that, based on this attitude, kyudo athletes need to understand and adjust their own psychological skills and mental states in order to improve their performance.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the change of subjective and objective fatigue in ski class, and to obtain data for making lesson plan including students physical condition management. The subjects were twenty university students (11 males and 9 females) were participated in 4 days ski class. As index of subjective fatigue, subjective feelings of fatigue symptoms and local physical fatigue symptoms, as index of objective fatigue, grip strength, counter movement jump (CMJ), straight leg raising test (SLR-test), heart rate (HR), salivary amylase activity and muscle hardness were measured. In the measurement, subjective fatigue was measured in the morning (around 7:00) and in the night (around 20:00), and objective fatigue was measured in the afternoon. The main results were that subjective fatigue (Factor Ⅳ: feeling of local pain or dullness) showed a significant increase since on the morning of the third day compared with the measurement before the class on the first day. Other variables that group Ⅰ(feeling of drowsiness), Ⅱ(feeling of instability), Ⅲ(feeling of uneasiness) and Ⅴ(feeling of eyestrain) were no significant change. The results of the local physical fatigue symptoms showed that lower legs were significantly increased since the night of the second day, upper limbs, thigh and hip parts were significantly increased since the morning of the third day. Objective fatigue (grip strength and SLR-test) showed a significant decrease since night of the first day compared with the measurement before the class on the first day. In addition, CMJ showed a significant decrease since second day. HR and salivary amylase activity were no significant change. Therefore, it was considered that there was a discrepancy between subjective and objective fatigue. In other words, these results suggest that the accumulation of fatigue progresses more than own feels, and showing the difficulty of grasping the student's health management with survey of subjective symptoms. And more health care management was needed.

This study aimed to reveal and analyze the relationship of consciousness of lack of exercise to physical fitness and exercise habit among university freshmen. For 299 freshmen (154 males, 145 females), physical fitness measurement (height, weight, standing trunk flexion, grip strength, vertical jump, sit-ups and maximum oxygen uptake) and questionnaire survey (regarding whether the individual has consciousness of lack of exercise and their exercise habit) were conducted. The results showed that the percentages with consciousness of lack of exercise were 74.0% for male and 87.6% for female. On the other hand, the percentages with exercise habit were 61.0% for male and 33.1% for female. By comparing of physical fitness with and without exercise habit, it is clear that the group with exercise habit had high values than the group without exercise habit on all of 5 items being measured. Especially, significant differences were observed between the two groups for male on sit-ups, and for female on standing trunk flexion, grip strength and sit-ups, respectively. These results showed that both males and females in the group without consciousness of lack of exercise have higher physical fitness, and at the same time, higher percentage with exercise habits. Therefore, when discussing the relationship between consciousness of lack of exercise and physical fitness, it is necessary to consider the impact of exercise habits. By logistic analysis, the facts related consciousness of lack of exercise were exercise habit and weight for male, and exercise habit and sit-ups for female, respectively. From the above results, besides exercise habit, physique and physical fitness should be also considered. Moreover, it was found that for the group with consciousness of lack of exercise, the percentages with exercise habit were 53.5% for male and 26.0% for female, and that for female was significantly lower than that for male. By the result, it could be inferred that even for the groups with consciousness of lack exercise, the actual daily physical activities are quite different for male and female. This showed that university freshmen, especially female students, did not do exercise practice although they had consciousness of lack exercise.