As physical education pursues to help children learn and internalize the value of physical activities, this study aims to suggest a direction for the development and operation of physical education intensive courses at education universities. The study was conducted in two levels to achieve this purpose. First, 10 education universities nationwide running intensive courses were analyzed for their subject characteristics and weaknesses. Second, the perception of students taking these courses was evaluated. All of the intensive courses from the surveyed universities were basically composed of theoretical subjects and practical subjects. And most of the theoretical subjects were focused on the professors’ major-related contents. Regarding the operational method of intensive courses, most of the education universities did not have clear guidelines between required and elective subjects even though they run the courses based on such division. Lastly, students were admitted to the courses based on their preferences and the overall satisfaction was low. In particular, the satisfaction level of those who were admitted to the course they chose as their second or third preference was exceptionally low, and many of these students wanted to change their major. Based on these results, the study suggests a direction for physical education intensive courses at education universities as follows:
First, subjects where students can learn the knowledge of physical education contents need to be open. Agreement on elements composing physical education contents should be a prerequisite to this.
Second, the new direction of physical education curricula should be incorporated into the intensive courses.
Third, education for preparatory teachers should be conducted to teach them practical knowledge that can be used in actual classes.
Fourth, as an alternative to overcome students’ limited experiences of physical education, experience of physical education before entering education universities should be taken into account for university entrance examination.