Abstract
Children’s motivation towards Physical Education (PE) decreases over the elementary school year, but little is known about how and why those declines influence changes of children’s intention and Physical Activity (PA). Guided by the expectancy-value model, this study attempted to examine the relationship between changes of children’s motivation to changes in children’s intention for future participation in PE and PA over an academic year. Using a repeated measurement technique, 354 (4th 180, 5th 174) school children’s expectancy-related beliefs, task values, intention, and PA were assessed twice over one academic school year. Time 1 was at the beginning of the fall semester, and Time 2 was at the end of the subsequent spring semester. Students’ expectancy-related beliefs and task values were positively related to their intention and PA at both Time 1 and Time 2. A factorial repeated measure MANOVA showed that decreases in task values and intention were significant (p < .01). Regression analyses indicated that decreases in children’s expectancy-related beliefs and task values explained significant variance in a decrease in their intention. Additionally, changes of expectancy-related beliefs emerged as significant predictors of changes in children’s PA. The findings revealed that children perceived less values toward PE across one academic year. Consequently, this change could contribute to the decreases in children’s intention for future participation. Thus, PE teachers should focus on learning activities students perceive as important, interesting, and usefulness in elementary school.
Highlights
In the physical education literature, many studies have demonstrated that the strength and quality of students’How to cite this paper: Gu, X
Jacobs and her colleagues in their longitudinal study found children’s expectancy-related beliefs in sport declined over the course of schooling and that this decline accelerated over time from 1st through 12th grade (Jacobs et al, 2002). Xiang and her colleagues reported there was a decline occurring in the transition from primary to intermediate grades in children’s expectancy-related beliefs in physical education (Xiang et al, 2003). These results demonstrate that the decline of physical education-related motivation and competence beliefs in physical activity evident in schoolaged children begins in elementary school (Jacobs et al, 2002; Xiang et al, 2003)
Questions are still unanswered in the physical education literature, such as “how do changes in motivation student experiences in physical education correspond to their physical activity participation?” and “are the declines in the motivation in physical education significantly correlated to the changes of physical activity from developmental perspective?”.Guided by the expectancy-value model, the major purpose of this study was to examine the developmental trend of students’ expectancy-values beliefs, task values, intention for future participation in physical education, and physical activity across one academic school year
Summary
In the physical education literature, many studies have demonstrated that the strength and quality of students’How to cite this paper: Gu, X. To understand students’ achievement motivation and motivated behaviors, Eccles and her colleagues developed the expectancy-value model of achievement choice (Eccles et al, 1983; Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998) They proposed two primary determinants of achievement behaviors: (a) the individual’s expectancy-related beliefs, consisting of beliefs about ability and expectancies for success in a particular domain; and (b) the subjective values associated with the task. Researchers have suggested that students tend to engage and participate in activities in which they believe they are competent, as well as those that they view as interesting, important, and useful in school physical education domains (Eccles et al, 1983; Gao et al, 2009; Gu & Solmon, 2016; Wigfield & Eccles, 2002; Zhang, Solmon, & Gu, 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
