Development of a Scale for Quantitative Evaluation of Exercise Instructors for Older People

Abstract

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to develop a scale to quantitatively evaluate the exercise instructor's teaching ability and to verify its validity and reliability. METHODS The participants were 331 students enrolled in the college of physical education. The survey was conducted using Google Forms. The questionnaire contained 36 questions, comprising seven questions on professionalism; eight on emotional communication ability; nine on fidelity; and, twelve on safety. A 5-point Likert scale was used. Factor analysis was performed, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated for the validity and reliability analyses of the research tool; additionally, correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed. All data were analyzed using the STATA 17.0 statistical program. RESULTS In the exercise instructor for older people evaluation questionnaire developed in this study, the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) value was 0.8 (0.88-0.93) for all factors, demonstrating its validity for factors including professionalism, emotional communication ability, fidelity, and safety. Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.9031, indicating high reliability. A strong correlation exists between factors, and through regression analysis, age (.1874, p=.027), professionalism (.8049, p=.000), fidelity (.6009, p=.000). The adequacy of the evaluation questionnaire (1.8606, p=.000) had a statistically significant effect on safety. CONCLUSIONS This questionnaire can be used as a tool to improve the quality of the exercise instructors for older people and serve to recognize the appropriate instructional methods for prospective exercise instructors for older people.

Keywords

• elderly exercise
• exercise instructor
• quantitative evaluation scale