The Influence of teacher-initiated reminders on the attainment of students' arobic fitness goals

Abstract

Goal setting in the physical education classroom can be a successful technique to enhance motivation, increase effort, and improve performance. A critical component of effective goal setting is providing feedback. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of teacher-initiated reminders of the goal on the attainment of self-set aerobic goals in physical education classes. This study was quasiexperimental in nature and used a nonrandomized pretest-posttest, control group design to carry out the procedures. Participants were from two fifth grade classes: one class was designated the experimental group (n = 15) and the other was the control group (n = 16). Participants completed the aerobic fitness pre-test and then created their aerobic fitness goal. Participants completed two cardio units each two weeks in duration with the experimental group being exposed to teacher-initiated reminders of their aerobic fitness goals, three times a class period; whereas, the control group was not exposed to any teacher-initiated reminders. At post-test, both groups completed the aerobic fitness test and determined whether their goal was met or surpassed. Results showed that more students than expected in the experimental group obtained their goal, which was not the case with the control group. Specifically, 80% of students in the experimental group surpassed their goal and only 56% of those in the control group surpassed their goal. The results suggest that keeping goals in focus through feedback can increase attainment. Overall, these results can serve to help physical educators use an effective goal setting to increase the success of their students.