A Performance-Data-Driven Evaluation Model for Physical Education Teaching Quality in Higher Vocational Colleges

Abstract

This study develops and preliminarily validates a teaching-quality evaluation model for physical education (PE) in higher vocational colleges using student sports-performance data. The model responds to two persistent limitations in conventional PE evaluation: an excessive focus on terminal test scores rather than learning processes, and insufficient attention to occupation-specific physical demands. Guided by the reform orientation of integrating job requirements, courses, competitions and certificates in vocational education, the study constructs an indicator system covering four dimensions: general physical fitness, occupation-specific physical fitness, motor skills and participation. The Delphi method, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Markov-chain modelling are integrated to estimate indicator weights and to analyse dynamic transitions from basic fitness attainment to occupational fitness adaptation. A 10-week pilot application was conducted in an automotive maintenance programme and a nursing programme at a higher vocational college in Shandong Province, China. Results indicate that sports performance data collected through wearable devices and professional training equipment were strongly associated with PE teaching evaluation outcomes (r = 0.85), with occupation-specific physical fitness contributing 42% of the explanatory weight. Student participation mediated the relationship between sports performance and teaching evaluation, with a stronger mediating effect in occupation-specific training modules than in general fitness modules. Dynamic monitoring also showed a moderating effect (effect value = 0.41), particularly in engineering-related training scenarios. The findings suggest that embedding occupational adaptability into data-driven PE evaluation can provide a dual reference framework that integrates general physical development with professional competence requirements. The model offers a practical basis for process-oriented assessment, curriculum optimisation and professionalised PE reform in higher vocational education.