Conceptual Physical Education: The Anatomy of an Innovation

Abstract

This article traces the history of the Conceptual Physical Education (CPE) movement and the important role this movement has played in college and university physical education departments in America over the past 50 years. CPE emerged out of basic instruction programs (i.e., skill-based, activity classes) during an era characterized by the accumulation of a large body of scientific evidence regarding the health benefits of physical activity, the formation of subdisciplinary areas of study, and a dramatically changing curriculum in higher education. CPE merges the practice and science of the field through a lecture-laboratory approach. First introduced in the 1960s by innovators, CPE classes are now offered by most college and university physical education programs in the United States, suggesting that CPE is a true innovation, rather than simply a passing fad.