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.