The goal of physical education is to promote lifelong physical activity. Students develop a strong background in a variety of sport, leisure, fitness, and adventure activities. Areas of emphasis include human anatomy, exercise physiology, kinesiology, working with diverse populations, pedagogy, and psychosocial aspects of sport and physical activity. Most students who choose this major have as their goal teaching physical education and/or coaching in public or private elementary and secondary schools grades Pre-K through 12.
Beginning with their entry level professional course in the Foundations of Sport, Exercise and Physical Education, students are required to participate in building an ePortfolio. Using a variety of media, styles and strategies, the ePortfolio system allows students to demonstrate/showcase the competencies they have achieved by both traditional and non-traditional means.
The Multi-Age Physical Education curriculum has been accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and approved by the Ohio Department of Education. In addition, the program reflects those standards established by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.
For 2004-05, the College of Education and Human Services reports a 91 percent passage rate on the national Praxis II qualifying teacher licensure exam for physical education. For the same time period, corresponding passage rates on Praxis II Principles of Teaching and Learning Tests for all students in the College ranged from 90 to 100 percent. Moreover, during their initial two years of employment, all program graduates passed the Praxis III Classroom Performance Assessment needed to advance from a two-year provisional to a five-year professional multi-age license to teach physical education.