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participation. A perceived lack of judgment by other participants regarding physical appearance
and performance ability emerged as an important theme relating to participants’ ongoing
engagement with Get Fit. Being comfortable learning and performing exercises at one’s own
level among those of varied levels was cited as a support for ongoing participation.
Finally, accountability emerged as an unexpected theme among interview participants in
discussions of program characteristics, demonstrating the importance of peer influence on
participant motivation. Accountability or the need or preference for a small group environment to
motivate their participation was mentioned by four of the six interview participants (66%). Two
interview participants mentioned group accountability as a factor absent in self-directed physical
activity opportunities at PCU in which they had less success beginning and persisting in
participating, despite intentions to do so. Interview participants described knowing that
coworkers would be waiting for them to walk to class together as effective in motivating them to
participate on days that they would not have done so on their own, which demonstrates the value
of such communities of continuity for university employees.
Themes relating to the cultural models and cultural settings of the Get Fit program
supported the organizational influences suggested by the literature presented in Chapter 2.
Instructors’ influence on overall success emerged as one of the key aspects of the Get Fit
program. Get Fit instructors imparted knowledge and guided subsequent participant mastery
while creating a welcoming and accepting environment that reduced motivational barriers
associated with anxiety about performance or judgment. Similarly, time to participate was a high
priority need for Get Fit employees, as the literature in Chapter 2 suggested (Abraham et al.,
2011; Kruger et al., 2007). In relating the need for time to the need for a cultural model offering
clear and consistent support for physical activity, surprising themes emerged. For example, the
Object Description
| Title | Physical activity interventions to reduce rates of sedentary behavior among university employees: a promising practice study |
| Author | DeFrank, Ginny Mary |
| Author email | ginnydefrank@gmail.com;defrank@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line) |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2020-06-19 |
| Date submitted | 2020-08-11 |
| Date approved | 2020-08-11 |
| Restricted until | 2020-08-11 |
| Date published | 2020-08-11 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Malloy, Courtney |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Canny, Eric Stowe, Kathy |
| Abstract | The purpose of this study was to understand factors influencing employee participation in a university-offered physical activity program to inform recommendations for other institutions of higher education seeking to address high rates of university employee sedentary behavior with physical activity programming. The instructor-led program was held four times per week beginning at noon each day and lasted one hour in duration on a university campus in the western United States. The program, which was offered at no cost to employees, typically served 20-30 participants each week. The Clark and Estes Gap Analytic Framework (2008) was employed to assess relevant knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences affecting university employee engagement with the physical activity program. The study utilized a convergent parallel mixed methods design, engaging 24 university employees by means of a fifty-four-item quantitative survey. Six survey respondents also participated in interviews. Research findings revealed the importance of the interplay of employee factual and metacognitive knowledge, as well as motivation influences including self-efficacy and expectancy value within the organization’s cultural models and settings. Recommendations for other institutions seeking to engage employees in physical activity were informed by the findings and supported by a review of literature. Recommendations include the use of training, communication strategies, information guides, modeling, and opportunities for reflection to meet employee knowledge and motivational needs. Evaluating and changing organizational policies, cultural values, and existing physical activity programming was recommended to ensure employees understand an organization’s support for participation in physical activity. Additionally, implications for practice involved a focus on the role of instructors and the development of communities of continuity to support and improve rates of university employee engagement in physical activity during the workday. |
| Keyword | sedentary behavior; physical activity; workplace physical activity; physical activity intervention; university physical activity; exercise |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | DeFrank, Ginny Mary |
| Physical access | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-DeFrankGin-8921.pdf |
| Archival file | Volume13/etd-DeFrankGin-8921.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 139 |
| Full text | 130 participation. A perceived lack of judgment by other participants regarding physical appearance and performance ability emerged as an important theme relating to participants’ ongoing engagement with Get Fit. Being comfortable learning and performing exercises at one’s own level among those of varied levels was cited as a support for ongoing participation. Finally, accountability emerged as an unexpected theme among interview participants in discussions of program characteristics, demonstrating the importance of peer influence on participant motivation. Accountability or the need or preference for a small group environment to motivate their participation was mentioned by four of the six interview participants (66%). Two interview participants mentioned group accountability as a factor absent in self-directed physical activity opportunities at PCU in which they had less success beginning and persisting in participating, despite intentions to do so. Interview participants described knowing that coworkers would be waiting for them to walk to class together as effective in motivating them to participate on days that they would not have done so on their own, which demonstrates the value of such communities of continuity for university employees. Themes relating to the cultural models and cultural settings of the Get Fit program supported the organizational influences suggested by the literature presented in Chapter 2. Instructors’ influence on overall success emerged as one of the key aspects of the Get Fit program. Get Fit instructors imparted knowledge and guided subsequent participant mastery while creating a welcoming and accepting environment that reduced motivational barriers associated with anxiety about performance or judgment. Similarly, time to participate was a high priority need for Get Fit employees, as the literature in Chapter 2 suggested (Abraham et al., 2011; Kruger et al., 2007). In relating the need for time to the need for a cultural model offering clear and consistent support for physical activity, surprising themes emerged. For example, the |
