Amelia M. Lee

Gender Differences in Children's Conceptions of Competence and Motivation in Physical Education

ABSTRACT This study investigated the competence perceptions and motivational beliefs of 50 physical education students who had adopted stereotypical perceptions of two gender oriented physical activities, dance and basketball. Specifically, the research asked students to explain why basketball is sometimes viewed as more appropriate for boys and dance is viewed as more appropriate for girls. The research also aimed to understand why students think they will not be as skilled and why many seem not to try in activities not viewed as gender appropriate. Participants were 50 fifthgraders who had personally adopted stereotypical perceptions regarding appropriateness of basketball and dance for male and female participation. A standardized open‐ended interview technique was utilized to ascertain what mediated student viewpoints about competence and motivation and how children viewed and assessed teacher motivational practice. Results indicated that competence and motivational beliefs of students with well‐estab...

Cognitive Conceptions of Teaching and Learning Motor Skills.

It has recently been suggested that background knowledge, expectations about success and failure, motivation for learning, and the ability to understand instruction play a central role in determining how much a student learns. The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature for evidence that student thought processes mediate achievement in physical education. A cognitive conception of learning is presented, and the notion that students play an active role in the learning process is explored.

Race and Gender Differences in Sport Participation as a Function of Self-Schema:

The present investigation studied the influence of race and gender on sport and physical activity choices by regarding specific sport and physical activities as appropriate for participation or self-defining for race and gender groups. The study was designed to confirm the existence of self-schemata for sport and physical activities. A computer-generated instrument was employed to assess the existence and strength of self-schemata. Results of logistic regression analysis suggest that self-schemata for particular sport and physical activities indeed exist and certain schemata differ by race and/or gender. Understanding the dynamics of the development of selfschemata development and the influences of race and gender holds potential for a more comprehensive explanation of the disparity in sport and physical activity participation and performance.

The Effects of Augmented Feedback on Students' Perceptions and Performance

Abstract The effects of augmented feedback on perceptions of ability (SPA), practice behaviors, and performance during motor skill instruction of a novel task were investigated. Fourth-grade students (N = 103) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (a) no feedback; (b) motivational feedback; (c) task feedback; or (d) motivation and task feedback. They then practiced simple and complex cupstacking skills. On a relatively simple task, the type of feedback did not have a significant effect on childrens SPA, practice behaviors, or performance; but on a more complex task, differential effects of feedback were evident. Results indicate that informational feedback is an important factor in facilitating student engagement, fostering positive perceptions of ability, and ultimately improving performance on a challenging task.

Development of an Instrument to Assess Cognitive Processes in Physical Education Classes

Using the mediating process paradigm (Doyle, 1977) as a framework, the need to develop reliable and valid instruments for assessing cognitive processes is apparent, and that was the purpose of this study. Participants (N = 819) completed the Cognitive Processes Questionnaire in Physical Education (CPQPE), as well as three other instruments addressing dispositional goal orientation, perception of motivational climate, and beliefs about causes of success in physical education. The five-factor structure that emerged in an exploratory factor analysis produced an acceptable fit with the data in the confirmatory factor analysis. The subscales of the CPQPE were related to a task-involved goal perspective and the belief that success is attributed to motivation and effort. The results indicate the CPQPE is a valid and reliable instrument that can provide valuable information about the teaching and learning process.

Achievement Goals and their Correlates among American and Chinese Students in Physical Education A Cross-Cultural Analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine achievement goals and their correlates in physical education from a cross-cultural perspective. One hundred and eighty Chinese students and 121 Anglo-American students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grades completed questionnaires assessing their goal orientations, perceived ability, task choice, and satisfaction in physical education. Analyses indicated that the same two-dimensional factor structure of goal orientation, namely, task and ego orientation, cut across the two cultural groups in physical education. Cultural variations were found for the relationships between achievement goals and related motivational variables. The findings suggest that factorial structure of achievement goal holds cross-culturally, whereas the relationships vary as a function of cultural background of students.

2001 C.H. McCloy Research Lecture: Promoting Quality School Physical Education: Exploring the Root of the Problem.

For many years the quality of school physical education has been questioned, and many times programs seem to suffer from low status, lack ofdirection, and failure to offer meaningful experiences for students. The goals of my research for the last 20years have been to learn how and when students learn from teachers and to improve the practice of teaching. In this paper I share some of the findings I believe can serve as a basis for change. Charles McCloy holds a unique place in the history ofour field, primarily for his advocacy ofa scientific program ofphysical education. He vigorously supported the importance of physical development over moral and social values but recognized that the key to accomplishing that objective was the promotion ofquality physical education. In his collection of speeches published in the book Philosophical Basisfor PhysicalEducation (1940) McCloy criticized school programs and teachers for too much duplication of material from year to year, low levels of engaged time in physical activity, poor student motivation for active participation, and subjective grading systems that were not correlated with individual differences. To McCloy, most of the progress made between 1930 and 1940 was by trial and error. In making predictions for the 1950s and beyond he believed that researchers and educators could shorten the distance between best thinking and everyday practice. At that time he was convinced the next decades would see health

Pedagogy Research Through the Years in RQES

This paper examines the growth in research on teaching, curriculum, and teacher education in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, describing how this body of work has evolved over the past 75 years. The research stream progressed from “expert” discourses about what physical education should be to scientific approaches that have generated a body of knowledge based on evidence rather than beliefs. Investigations focused on the teaching and learning process have evolved to provide research-based benchmarks for designing teacher education programs and evaluating instruction as well as informing effective teaching practice. We advocate for a broad view of pedagogy and argue that pedagogical researchers can make an important contribution to efforts to increase levels of physical activity through interdisciplinary projects.

Age Differences in use of Strategy for Recall of Movement in a Large Scale Environment

Abstract In order to investigate how children remember distance (route) and location (landmark) information, two experiments were conducted in a large scale environment using jogging as the means of locomotion. In Experiment 1, thirty 4-year-old and thirty 9-year-old children were randomly assigned within age to three groups which were cued prior to the jog to remember the event, location of the event or distance to the event. Results indicated that older children reproduced the location and distance better than younger children. Cueing children to remember the location resulted in more accurate estimates than the other conditions. In Experiment 2, 5-year-old, 9-year-old, and 12-year-old children (24 children of each age) were randomly divided into step counting strategy and control groups, and asked to reproduce a criterion distance jogged. Results indicated that the three strategy groups and the 12-year-old controls estimated distance with similar accuracy, but the 9- and 5-year-old controls were differ...

Research on Social Issues in Elementary School Physical Education

The social and cultural norms children learn in schools can have a powerful effect on a variety of lifestyle decisions that will affect their physical and mental health. In this article we examine research on social issues in elementary school physical education. We provide an overview of how teachers’ actions and behaviors affect what children learn in the social context of the gymnasium and, particularly, what they learn about engaging in physical activity. We examine how motor ability, gender, race, ethnicity, and social class influence socialization in physical education and affect children’s choices about engaging actively in learning activities. The theoretical constructs of self‐schema and the hidden curriculum are used to illustrate how school experiences interact with what children view as possible for themselves, and how implicit messages enhance or constrain children’s involvement in physical activity.