Abstract
School physical education (PE) has the potential to contribute to public-health promotion and well-being, but oftentimes students' lack of motivation toward PE or physical activity in general, especially during adolescence, diminishes, or eradicates the positive effects associated with PE. Therefore, practical approaches are required that help teachers to increase or awake students intrinsic motivation toward PE, for which self-determination theory may provide the conceptual framework. In that regard, the purpose of the present study was to examine whether the use of real-time, heart rate feedback (as a method to support students' need for autonomy and competence) during regular PE lessons has the potential to increase students' autonomous motivation and physical effort. To achieve this, we had forty healthy adolescents between 16 and 17 years of age run for 30 min either with (experimental group, EG) or without (control group, CG) real-time, individualized heart rate feedback during a regular PE class and compared physical and perceived exertion as well as joy of running between the two groups. Participants were randomly assigned to the groups. Our data revealed that participants in the EG enjoyed running more than participants in the CG (joy of running was 3.20 in the EG vs. 2.63 in the CG, p = 0.03) despite a higher physical (163 to 178 in EG vs. 141 to 156 beats per minute in the CG, p < 0.001) and perceived exertion (rating of perceived exertion of 13.22 in the EG vs. 10.59 in the CG, p = 0.02). That means, running with real-time, individualized heart rate feedback apparently increased participants' motivation to run and to enjoy running at higher levels of exertion. In that regard, real-time, individualized activity feedback should be implemented in regular PE classes systematically and repeatedly to create a controllable and attainable situation that allows students to actively adjust their own behavior to achieve appealing and realistic goals.
Highlights
Physical activity has long been known as a major, independent risk factor of individual and public health and well-being (World Health Organization, 2010; Hallal et al, 2012; Lee et al, 2012)
Data analysis revealed a significant difference between groups, F(1,35) = 15.89, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.31, with a higher physical exertion averaged over the 30 min of running in the experimental group (EG) (M = 170.34 bpm, 95% confidence interval of the mean (95% CI) = [163.11, 177.56]) as compared to the control group (CG) (M = 148.41 bpm, 95% CI = [140.74, 156.08])
Post-hoc analysis revealed that participants of the EG spend more time in heart zone 4 (MD = 69.29%, 95% CI = [52.72, 85.85], p = 0.001), and less time in heart rate zone 2 (MD = −36.08%, 95% CI = [−52.66, −19.50], p < 0.001) and heart rate zone 3 (MD = −21.88%, 95% CI = [−40.41, −3.35], p = 0.02) than participants of the CG
Summary
Physical activity has long been known as a major, independent risk factor of individual and public health and well-being (World Health Organization, 2010; Hallal et al, 2012; Lee et al, 2012). Actual daily engagement in moderate to vigorous physical activity in school-aged children is (with about 14– 20 min on average) well below the recommended 60 min per day (Biddle and Goudas, 1996; Sallis et al, 2000; McManus et al, 2008). It has been reported that moderate and vigorous physical activity declines dramatically with increasing age during adolescence (Armstrong et al, 2000; Parish and Treasure, 2003; McManus et al, 2008; Knuth and Hallal, 2009; Van Hecke et al, 2016). It has been reported that moderate and vigorous physical activity declines dramatically with increasing age during adolescence (Armstrong et al, 2000; Parish and Treasure, 2003; McManus et al, 2008; Knuth and Hallal, 2009; Van Hecke et al, 2016). Hallal et al (2012) reported that worldwide four out of five adolescents do not meet the physical activity recommendations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
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 call
