Are K-12 learners motivated in physical education? A meta-analysis

The expectancy-value theory: A meta-analysis of its application in physical education

BACKGROUND

The purpose of motivating students is to enhance their learning achievement. The expectancy-value theory (EVT) has demonstrated its efficacy in motivating students in classrooms and in gymnasia. Understanding student motivation in physical education is needed. This meta-analysis review aimed to reveal the determinants and functions of EVT by evaluating the evidence in physical education research.

METHODS

We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to identify and meta-analyze the current research literature published from January 2010 to December 2020 by generating and analyzing the effect sizes from the studies.

RESULTS

A total of 31 studies were included. The results show that social support, motivation of teachers and peers, and positive class climate can predict student EVT motivation. EVT motivation predicts student learning behaviors, situational interests, fitness performance, health behavior function, out-of-school physical activity, and physical skill development.

CONCLUSION

EVT motivation could facilitate learning behaviors and situational interest development in the gymnasium. It might lead to fitness enhancement, health behavior change, out-of-school physical activity participation, and physical skill development. Fostering a learning environment with a mastery-centered and/or student autonomy approach where students perceived success and the task values can enhance and maximize student EVT motivation and learning achievement.

Learners' motivational response to the Science, PE, & Me! curriculum: A situational interest perspective

BACKGROUND

The Science, PE, & Me! (SPEM) curriculum is a concept-based physical education curriculum that offers students coherent educational experiences for constructing health-related fitness knowledge through movement experiences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate students' motivational response to the SPEM curriculum from the situational interest perspective.

METHODS

The study used a cluster randomized controlled design in which 30 elementary schools in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the eastern United States were randomly assigned to an experimental or comparison condition. Although all students in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades in the targeted schools were eligible to participate in the study, a random sample of students from the experimental (n = 1749; 15 schools) and comparison groups (n = 1985; 15 schools) provided data. Students' motivational response to the SPEM curriculum or comparison curriculum was measured using the previously validated Situational Interest Scale-Elementary. Data were analyzed using structural mean modeling.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated that the experimental group (as reference group) showed significantly higher enjoyment (z = -2.01), challenge (z = -6.54), exploration (z = -12.195), novelty (z = -8.80), and attention demand (z = -7.90) than the comparison group.

CONCLUSION

The findings indicate that the SPEM curriculum created a more situationally interesting context for learning than the comparison physical education curriculum.

Twenty Years of Intervention Research in School Physical Education in the JTPE and RQES

Background/Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to review intervention studies in school physical education, with a goal of identifying the gaps and future trends of intervention research in the field of physical education. Methods: A total of 71 quantitative experimental studies were identified by manually examining all the articles published in the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education and Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport from January 1998 to December 2018. All the studies were coded using a coding template. The interrater reliability among three coders exceeded 85%. The frequencies and percentages for each category were calculated as appropriate. Results: Eighty-five percent of experimental studies were guided by a theoretical framework. Interventions used various types of research designs. A variety of dependent variables were measured with the majority of studies focusing on student motivation and psychomotor skills. The intervention length ranged from 5 min to 2 years. Fifty-six percent of studies reported effect sizes. The reported types and strength of effect size varied. Forty-nine percent of them reported an intervention fidelity check. Conclusion: A limited number of experimental studies had been conducted from 1998 to 2018. The rigor of these experimental studies needs significant improvement. More experimental studies with a randomized controlled trial design are needed.

Examination of Summer Campers' Physical Activity Interest and Behavior

This study has provided insight into the complex relationship between situational interest, the social environment, competence, and behavior. This quasi-experiential design included a pre-test questionnaire, intervention activity of throwing and catching a football, and post-test questionnaire administered to forty children aged 7–13 enrolled in a summer camp. The results of this study supported a theoretical approach that hypothesized that competence positively influences situational interest. The implications for summer camp owners and counselors support providing an environment that is supportive of elementary-age children participating in an established curriculum that results in positive interactions and activities where summer campers can perceive that they are competent.

Universality and Uniqueness of Students' Situational Interest in Physical Education: A Comparative Study

Situational interest (SI) has been conceptualized in physical education (PE) as a multidimensional construct including five dimensions: instant enjoyment, exploration intention, attention demand, novelty and challenge. Consistent with Ding, Sun and Chen (2013), who argued for the need 'to develop cross-culture models to examine the universality of the motivation constructs', the purpose of this study was to investigate the universality and uniqueness of students' SI by comparing three French-speaking PE contexts. Participants were 1812 secondary school students from Belgium, France, and Switzerland. They responded to the French 15-item SI scale and the Total Interest scale (Roure, Pasco & Kermarrec, 2016) after practicing learning tasks in regular PE lessons. The relationships between the SI dimensions and total interest were compared between the three samples using correlation and regression analyses. A multivariate analysis of variance was also used to compare SI scores between the contexts. The results revealed that instant enjoyment and exploration intention were the two major motivating dimensions, highlighting the universality of students' SI, whereas challenge and novelty revealed the uniqueness of this construct explored.

Evaluation of a concept-based physical education unit for energy balance education

BACKGROUND

Physical education (PE) is a key channel that impacts children's decisions and behaviors for healthful living. This study evaluated the effects of a concept-based PE (CBPE) instructional unit, featured by energy balance (EB) education, on students' knowledge learning, situational interest, cognitive, and physical engagements as well as teachers' perceptions.

METHODS

Fourth and 5th grade students (n = 468) in a mid-western state of the United States were recruited as the participants. Four elementary schools were randomized to the CBPE or control groups. Students' EB knowledge, situational interest, cognitive engagement, and physical engagement were measured by a knowledge test, the Situational Interest Scale-Elementary, written task sheets, and accelerometers, respectively, while teachers' perceptions of the CBPE unit were captured by individual interviews at the end of the experiment.

RESULTS

The CBPE group showed a significant increase in EB knowledge, while the control did not. Both groups showed a similar increasing trend for situational interest over time, although the statistical results favored the control group. For physical engagement, the CBPE group demonstrated a statistically different but substantively similar level of in-class physical activity compared to the control group. The CBPE group also showed a moderate level of cognitive engagement throughout the unit. The PE teachers reported overall positive perceptions about teaching the CBPE unit.

CONCLUSION

These results support the utility of the CBPE unit in enhancing EB education along with facilitating positive student interest and engagement as well as positive teaching experiences.

Relationship between motivation and learning in physical education and after-school physical activity

PURPOSE

A primary goal of physical education is to develop physically literate individuals with the knowledge, skills, and confidence necessary for a physically active lifestyle. Guided by the expectancy-value and interest motivation theories, the purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between students' motivation and health-related fitness knowledge developed in physical education and their after-school physical activity participation.

METHOD

Third-, 4th-, and 5th-grade students (N = 293) from 6 elementary schools in a large metropolitan school district in the United States provided data on expectancy beliefs and perceived task values, situational interest, health-related fitness knowledge, and after-school physical activity. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a simultaneous multiple regression model.

RESULTS

It was found that expectancy beliefs (β = .20, t = 2.16, p = .03) and perceived exploration demand (β = .25, t = 2.58, p = .01), a source for situational interest, were positively related to after-school physical activity. The 2 variables, however, accounted for only 11.2% of the variances for children's after-school physical activity participation.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates that students' active exploration and expectancy beliefs for success in physical education have limited influence on leisure-time physical activity participation.

Top 10 research questions related to children physical activity motivation

Physical activity is critical to healthy development of children. It is well documented that helping children develop and sustain a physically active lifestyle requires children to become motivated. Many studies have been conducted in the past 2.5 decades on determinants and correlates for children and adolescents' physical activity motivation. The findings have informed researchers and practitioners about motivation sources for children and effective strategies to motivate children in given physical activity settings. Built on the extensive knowledge base and theoretical platforms formed by these research studies, the purpose of this article is to take a look at the current research landscape and provide subjective thoughts about what we still need to know about children's physical activity motivation. The product of this subjective thinking process rendered 10 potential questions for future research on children's physical activity motivation in both in-school and out-of-school settings. These topics encompass those focusing on children's physical activity motivation as a mental dispositional process, those conceptualizing the motivation as an outcome of person-environment interactions, and those attempting to dissect the motivation as an outcome of social-cultural influences and educational policies. It is hoped that the topics can serve researchers interested in children's physical activity motivation as starting blocks from which they can extend their conceptual thinking and identify research questions that are personally meaningful. It is also hoped that the list of potential questions can be helpful to researchers in accomplishing the imperative and significant mission to motivate children to be physically active in the 21st century and beyond.