Date of Award
2021
Publisher
North Dakota State University
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Awarded
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Program
Education
Department
Education
College
Human Sciences and Education
Faculty Advisor
Hill, Brent
Description
The medical community recognizes the importance of regular, vigorous exercise. The evidence is indeed overwhelming in support of physical fitness for the prevention of disease and disability; yet nearly 80% of the population does not exercise enough to produce a health benefit (CDC, 2018). Thus, it is necessary to find a way to assist individuals to increase an awareness concerning physical fitness and furthermore, overall wellness awareness. This quantitative study’s instructional intervention treatment interlaced the six dimensions of wellness and Knowles andragogy interwoven within a single activity; in this case water exercise. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess if adult participation in aquatic exercise classes results in increased awareness, longer lasting self-reported behavioral choices regarding the six dimensions of wellness. This study utilized a split-plot (mixed) factorial ANOVA with two treatment groups (experimental and control) and three occasions of measurements. Furthermore, this study’s assessment was a pretest, posttest 1, and posttest 2 wellness inventory to explore what changes adults perceived throughout the water exercise course and three weeks later. The research explored participants awareness based on teaching and learning plans that intertwined Knowles’ (2015) andragogy with the depth and breadth of the wellness dimensions while participating in water exercise. Hence, participants gained an awareness of each wellness dimension. In this research the six dimensions of wellness is: physical, social, emotional, intellectual, environmental, and spiritual wellness. The six dimensions of wellness is an approach to life. It is how a person interacts with their surroundings. Thus, physical fitness is a portion of one’s whole wellness. But introducing the six dimensions into one activity demonstrated an awareness of overall wellness. This study was a step in the right direction as it confirmed adults’ increased awareness concerning overall wellness interwoven with Knowles andragogy while participating in water exercise.
Recommended Citation
Mastel, Felisa Fayette, "Utilizing an Instructional Intervention in Aquatics: An Experimental Study for Improving Wellness Awareness in Adults" (2021). Education. 15.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/education/15
Rights
NDSU policy 190.6.2
Rights Link
https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf
Handle Identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/10365/32355