An examination of pedagogy effectiveness on undergraduate development in a police physical qualification preparation course.

摘要

The first purpose of the quantitative study was to determine the relationship, if any, between the pre- and post-training physical assessment scores of college students enrolled in a course designed to assist in passing police qualification physical tests. Having determined the pre-test and post-test relationship, the second purpose was to develop predictive models that could identify the appropriate training intervention needed to pass the qualification tests. One hundred fifteen volunteer participants from a college in New York State completed police qualifying physical fitness tests, the physical qualification test (PQT) and the job standards test (JST) on a pre- and post-training basis. The focus of the PQT is general physical fitness, while the focus of the JST is the ability to perform police tasks. All participants passed the JST during pre- and post-tests. Few participants passed the PQT pre-tests. There was an increase in the percentage of participants who passed the PQT post-tests. Revealed was a relationship between the PQT pre- and post-test scores for all three areas for male participants and for two of the three areas for female participants. The relationship data formed a baseline to develop predictive models. The models could assist educational officials in the placement of students into training groups appropriate to the needs of the students in increasing the probability of successful completion of the PQT. Indicated was that future training needs should include the development of uniform training guides, a lower instructor/student ratio, the availability of trained assistants, and the need to specialize student training according to group ability levels.