Nicholas Rutter

11/9/16

Technology and Assessment MW 9:30-10:45

Professor Cone

Assessment Project

Problem

1. The problem is to measure the increase in physical activity in college students when implementing a “Get up and Get Active” campaign.

Refining the Problem

2. The population that is being studied will be the student population at Rowan University. The age range of the students will be anywhere from 18-24. Both male and female students will be included. The “Get up and Get Active” campaign will be advertised through Rowan Announcer e-mails, posters in every building, signs posted throughout the walkways of campus, advertised on the student Rowan after hours (RAH) activities calendar, and student ambassadors will encourage students in the beginning of classes. The campaign will be implemented on November 20th and will end on December 20th (once the fall semester ends).

3. A rating scale will be useful to determine how well advertised the campaign was, including how aware the students were of this movement. The participants will be able to let me know if the campaign was advertised well enough in each area (e-mails, posters, event calendar handouts, and word by mouth). Another rating will be useful to determine the beliefs people have who are pro-walking (social benefits, pleasure benefits, health benefits, and/or stress relief benefits). They may pick more than one pro-walking benefit. This rating scale will let me know what motivates people to get up and get active! Yet another rating scale will be useful to measure physical activity before the campaign is implemented, the increase in physical activity during the campaign, and the level of physical activity two weeks after the campaign is finished. This rating scale will help to determine whether or not the campaign was successful in getting students on a college campus to be more physically active.

4. The subject that will be evaluated in the first rubric is awareness exposure through e-mails, posters, calendar handouts, and by word of mouth. The second rubric will evaluate the pro-walking beliefs of the participants: social benefits, pleasure benefits, health benefits, and/or stress relief benefits. The third rubric will take measurements of physical activity before, during, and two weeks after the campaign.

Instrumentation and Methodology

5. A rating scale from 0-3 will be used to determine how well advertised the campaign was, referring to how aware the students were of this movement. Another rating scale from disagree-strongly agree will be used to determine the beliefs people have who are pro-walking. Yet another rating scale will be used to measure physical activity before the campaign is implemented, the increase in physical activity during the campaign, and the level of physical activity two weeks after the campaign is finished. The participants will be able to rate themselves on four levels: does not meet expectations, satisfactory, meets expectations, or exceeds expectations. For each rubric, I have described different expectations. This rating scale will help to determine if the campaign was successful in getting students on a college campus to get up and be more active.

6. The day the campaign begins (November 20th), we will have a sign up station based in the student center. Each student participant will fill out a form with their name, age, and will answer the following rubrics and scales: awareness exposure, pro-walking benefits, and physical activity level before the campaign begins. The students will also have to present their student IDs to ensure they are students at Rowan University. The last day of the campaign (December 20th), the students will come to this station once again to fill out the rubric on how much physical activity they have performed during the campaign. The students will also be asked to give their phone number and/or e-mail so they can complete this same rubric again in two weeks. Volunteers can be based at the sign up stations. The forms and pens will be supplied. Two weeks after the campaign has ended, volunteers will then be asked to call and e-mail the participants and fill out the rubric for the participants on how much physical activity they have been getting since the campaign has ended.

Analysis of Results

7. The studies to determine how well advertised the campaign was, is a summative assessment because the rubric will be answered once the campaign begins. The studies which are performed before the campaign, at the end of the campaign, and two weeks after the campaign has ended are a formative assessment. Formative assessments determine how the participants in the study have progressed throughout the “Get up and Get Active” campaign.

Scale/Instrument/Form

Awareness Exposure

None
(0 times) / 1
Rarely (1-2 times) / 2
Sometimes
(2-5 times) / 3
Often
(5+ times)
E-mails
Posters
Calendar
By Mouth

Pro-Walking Benefits

Strongly Agree / Agree / Disagree
Social Benefits
Pleasure Benefits
Health Benefits
Stress Relief Benefits

Amount of Physical Activity Before Campaign

4
Exceeds Expectation
30-60 minutes+, at least than 5 days/week / 3
Meets Expectation
30 minutes+, at least 5 days/week / 2
Satisfactory
10-30 minutes, 2-5 days/week / 1
Doesn’t Meet Expectations
10-30 minutes, 1 day/week OR Not at all
Walking
Jogging/Running
Bicycling
Swimming
Other

Amount of Physical Activity During Campaign (April 1-May 1)

4
Exceeds Expectation
60+ minutes at least 5 days/week / 3
Meets Expectation
30-60 minutes+, at least 5 days/week / 2
Satisfactory
30-60 minutes+, 2-5 days/week / 1
Doesn’t Meet Expectations
10-30 minutes, 1-4 days/week OR Not at all
Walking
Jogging/Running
Bicycling
Swimming
Other

Amount of Physical Activity 2 Weeks After Campaign

4
Exceeds Expectation
60+ minutes at least 5 days/week / 3
Meets Expectation
30-60 minutes+, at least 5 days/week / 2
Satisfactory
30-60 minutes+, 2-5 days/week / 1
Doesn’t Meet Expectations
10-30 minutes, 1-4 days/week OR Not at all
Walking
Jogging/Running
Bicycling
Swimming
Other

References

Hayden, J. (2014). Introduction to Health Behavior Theory, 2nd ed. Burlington, MA: Jones Bartlett Learning.

Scale/Instrument/Form

Awareness Exposure

None

(0 times)

1

Rarely (1-2 times)

2

Sometimes

(2-5 times)

3

Often

(5+ times)

E-mails

Posters

Calendar

By Mouth

Pro-Walking Benefits

Strongly Agree

Agree

\Disagree

Social Benefits

Pleasure Benefits

Health Benefits

Stress Relief Benefits

Amount of Physical Activity Before Campaign

4

Exceeds Expectation

30-60 minutes+, at least than 5 days/week

3

Meets Expectation

30 minutes+, at least 5 days/week

2

Satisfactory

10-30 minutes, 2-5 days/week

1

Doesn’t Meet Expectations

10-30 minutes, 1 day/week OR Not at all

Walking

Jogging/Running

Bicycling

Swimming

Other

Amount of Physical Activity During Campaign (April 1-May 1)

4

Exceeds Expectation

60+ minutes at least 5 days/week

3

Meets Expectation

30-60 minutes+, at least 5 days/week

2

Satisfactory

30-60 minutes+, 2-5 days/week

1

Doesn’t Meet Expectations

10-30 minutes, 1-4 days/week OR Not at all

Walking

Jogging/Running

Bicycling

Swimming

Other

Amount of Physical Activity 2 Weeks After Campaign

4

Exceeds Expectation

60+ minutes at least 5 days/week

3

Meets Expectation

30-60 minutes+, at least 5 days/week

2

Satisfactory

30-60 minutes+, 2-5 days/week

1

Doesn’t Meet Expectations

10-30 minutes, 1-4 days/week OR Not at all

Walking

Jogging/Running

Bicycling

Swimming

Other

References

Hayden, J. (2014). Introduction to Health Behavior Theory, 2nd ed. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.