Aerobic dance courses are an important component of public physical education in higher education, integrating fitness, artistry, aesthetics, recreation, and collective participation. These courses generally include aerobics, cheerleading, line dance, street dance, square dance, and ethnic fitness dance. With the continuous promotion of the “health first” educational philosophy, the high-quality development of school physical education, and curriculum-based ideological and political education, aerobic dance courses play an important role in improving college students’ physical fitness, aesthetic literacy, exercise interest, social interaction ability, and lifelong sports awareness. Using the methods of literature review and logical analysis, this paper reviews the policy background, research hotspots, practical problems, and optimization strategies related to the construction of aerobic dance courses in higher education. The review shows that current research mainly focuses on curriculum goal optimization, teaching content renewal, teaching model reform, integration of ideological and political education, digital resource development, and improvement of evaluation systems. However, several problems remain, including unclear curriculum positioning, fragmented content systems, insufficient innovation in teaching methods, single evaluation methods, and inadequate teacher and facility support. Future development of aerobic dance courses in higher education should adhere to the principles of health first, aesthetic education, physical education for holistic development, and student-centered learning. A five-dimensional curriculum goal system should be established, including physical fitness development, skill acquisition, aesthetic expression, cultural understanding, and value formation. In addition, modularized curriculum content, blended teaching, stratified instruction, project-based learning, and diversified developmental evaluation should be promoted. In this way, aerobic dance courses can shift from a skill-oriented teaching model to a comprehensive education-oriented model.
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Wang, S. (2026) A Review of Curriculum Development for Aerobic Dance Courses in Higher Education in the New Era. Global Education Bulletin, 3(2), 32-39. https://doi.org/10.71052/grb2025/WZGR4943