title: Knowledge of Exercise Prescription Guidelines Across One 4-Year Kinesiology Curriculum.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Knowledge of evidence-based exercise prescription guidelines is considered a cornerstone of responsible professional practice. While many academics insist that a university degree in kinesiology or a related field should be required for all exercise professionals, the learning of exercise prescription guidelines that takes place during the course of a university degree program has not been investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  An 11-question knowledge quiz about the frequency, duration, and intensity of cardiovascular exercise recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine (Garber et al., 2011) was administered to 683 undergraduate students majoring in kinesiology and 89 certified exercise professionals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Knowledge scores improved significantly, F(4, 764) = 16.69, p < .001, η2 = .08, from the freshmen, who scored 24.30%, to the seniors, who scored 36.25%. Seniors did not differ significantly from the professionals, who scored 40.65%, despite the fact that 58.14% of professionals had graduate degrees and 44.95% had multiple certifications. However, 82.77% of seniors perceived that their knowledge of the guidelines (rated 5.48 out of 10) was lower than that required "to be able to function as an exercise professional safely and effectively" (rated 8.17).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that although significant learning of the guidelines occurs in a typical kinesiology curriculum, there is considerable room for improvement.
authors.affiliation: a Iowa State University.
authors.forename: Panteleimon
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ekkekakis
authors.affiliation: a Iowa State University.
authors.forename: Megan J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Albee
authors.affiliation: a Iowa State University.
authors.forename: Zachary
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zenko
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002568:Certification; D003479:Curriculum; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D018953:Kinesiology, Applied / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D024382:Professional Role; D013336:Students, Health Occupations; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: American College of Sports Medicine; Common Core; curriculum; evidence-based practice