Paul W. Darst

An examination of situational interest and its sources.

BACKGROUND Situational interest is articulated theoretically as a construct associated with five dimensional sources: novelty, challenge, attention demand, exploration intention, and instant enjoyment. AIMS This study aimed to examine the influence of the dimensional sources on situational interest. It was hypothesised that the dimensional sources function differently to contribute to situational interest and that the influence of a source might be mediated by others. SAMPLE Two samples of 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students were used in the study. There were 281 students (57% male, 43% female) in the first sample and 191 (47% male, 53% female) in the second. METHOD Students in Sample A evaluated situational interest and the dimensional sources in tasks of analysing jogging and gymnastic stunts on video. Those in Sample B evaluated them in tasks of learning basketball. Correlation and regression analyses and path analyses were used to test the theoretical model. RESULTS Instant Enjoyment determined situational interest. Exploration and Novelty had positive influences on situational interest via enhancing Instant Enjoyment. Challenge showed little influence. The path analyses for both samples confirmed the inter-dimensional mediation effects of the sources. CONCLUSION The analysed data support the hypotheses. The dimensional sources had unequal influences on situational interest and the mediation effects among themselves at times strengthened or weakened each others influences. The findings suggest that to increase situational interest, educators should offer students ample exploratory opportunities during student-task interaction that can lead to instant enjoyment for learning.

Situational interest in physical education: a function of learning task design.

Abstract Situational interest is the appealing effect of unique characteristics students recognize in a learning task during interaction with the task. It occurs when a learning task gives the learner a sense of novelty and challenge, demands high attention and exploration intention, and generates instant enjoyment during the person-task interaction. In this study, a repeated measure research design was used to examine the effects of task design on situational interest and the extent to which the effects were mediated by gender, grade, personal interest, and skill levels. Middle school students (N = 242) evaluated situational interest of four learning tasks with different cognitive and physical demands after having experienced the tasks in their physical education classes. Analyzed data showed that cognitive demand of a learning task played a critical role in generating situational interest. Grade levels, gender, and personal interest mediated the effects of task design on situational interest. But these mediation effects seemed rather limited. Physical skill levels had little influence on the effects of task design on situational interest. The findings seem to suggest that to enhance interestingness of a physical activity task, an option for physical educators may be to increase cognitive demand rather than reduce physical demand.

Children's Step Counts on Weekend, Physical Education, and Non-Physical Education Days

Childrens Step Counts on Weekend, Physical Education, and Non-Physical Education Days There have been well-documented increases in overweight and obese children, sedentary lifestyles, and increased prevalence of a hypokinetic disease over the past 20 years. Thus understanding the physical activity patterns of children is essential for developing effective interventions. Little evidence exists that illustrates the contribution of weekend, physical education, and non-physical education days to overall physical activity patterns of children. The purpose of the study was to examine differences in pedometer-determined physical activity patterns of fourth and fifth grade children during weekend, physical education and non-physical education days. Three hundred and sixty-three children (8-11 years old) from six Southwestern USA elementary schools participated by wearing pedometers (Yamax Digiwalker SW-200) for seven consecutive days. Children recorded their steps at arrival to school and when they woke up and went to bed on weekend days. During weekdays, the fourth and fifth grade children averaged 13,196 ± 3,334 and 11,295 ± 3,168 steps/day for boys and girls, respectively. This is compared to a weekend average of 7,660 ± 4,647steps/day (boys) and 7,317 ± 4,062 steps/day (girls). Children were significantly more active on physical education days, averaging 12,979 steps/day (14,197 ± 4,697 steps/day for boys and 12,058 ± 3,772 steps/day for girls),compared to non-physical education school days, when they accumulated 11,809 steps/day (12,788 ± 3,600 steps/day for boys and 11,047 ± 3,382 steps/day for girls). Based on the findings in this study, children and youth are more active during school days than on weekend days. Furthermore, children are more active on physical education days than non-physical education days. These findings suggest that increased physical activity programming and interventions during weekend days may be needed to increase physical activity. The expansion of school-based physical education across more school days may also serve to increase childrens physical activity during the school week.

Strategies for Physical Activity Promotion beyond the Physical Education Classroom.

JOPERD • Volume 78 No. 9 • November/December 2007 M uch of the focus for physical education teachers relates to the curriculum and each individual lesson that is taught. It is important, however, to advocate for another aspect of the program that teachers are trying to promote: physical activity outside of the physical education classroom. With the limited amount of time for physical education, students cannot reach the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity (National Association for Sport and Physical Education [NASPE], 2004b). To make up the difference, physical educators need to help promote, facilitate, and model opportunities for students to be active outside of class. The Healthy People 2010 goals state that individuals should increase their daily physical activity levels and increase their quality of life through physical activity (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2000). These goals can be reached by combining the efforts of physical educators with the efforts of other school and community professionals. This article provides suggestions for physical educators to help students, their friends, and even their families to lead a physically active lifestyle and make healthy choices outside of the physical education program.

School Day Physical Activity Patterns of Pima Indian Children in Two Communities.

Developing a physically active lifestyle is critical for all children. This is especially relevant for Pima Indian children living in Native American communities in the southwestern United States. Since the 1950s, obesity and type II diabetes mellitus incidence rates in Pima communities have increased dramatically (Kriska et al., 2003). These conditions are becoming prevalent in Pima children as well. A study of 1,704 Native American children revealed that 53.7% and 27.3% of Pima girls and boys, respectively, (M age = 7.6 years, SD = 0.6) are above the 95th percentile for body mass index (BMI; Caballero et al., 2003). Also, Dabelea et al. (1998) found that the prevalence of type II diabetes mellitus in Pima children and adolescents ages 10–19 years increased from 1967 to 1996. Specifically, type II diabetes rates for boys ages 10–14 years increased from 0% in 1967–76 to 1.4% in 1987–96 and in girls ages 10–14 years from 0.72% in 1967–76 to 2.88% in 1987–96. More alarming are the increased prevalence rates in Pima adolescents ages 15–19 years. During the same time periods mentioned above, adolescent type II diabetes prevalence rates rose from 2.43% to 3.78% for boys and from 2.73% to 5.31% for girls. Several prospective studies have shown that a physically active lifestyle can lessen the likelihood of acquiring type II diabetes mellitus (Helmrich, Ragland, Leung, & Paffenbarger, 1991; Manson et al., 1991). Specifically, Kriska et al. (2003) examined the relationship of leisure and occupational physical activity and BMI on type II diabetes mellitus incidence rates in 1,728 nondiabetic Pima Indians 15–59 years from 1987 to 2000. Of the participants, 346 developed diabetes. Men and women in the high physical activity group had a lower diabetes incidence than men and women in the low physical activity group. After adjusting for age and BMI, the differences between the high and low activity groups were only statistically significant in women. Results from the study suggest that physical activity participation may be a defense against type II diabetes. The apparent protective effects of physical activity against type II diabetes warrants investigation into the current physical activity participation of Pima children living in Native American communities.

Fitness Routines for Directing Students toward a Physically Active Lifestyle

T he purpose of this article is to give physical educators a variety of ideas on how to help their students fulfill standard three (National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 1995). Teachers at all levels should strive to develop students who are physically active both in class and outside of school, now and in the future. There should be a clear connection between what is done in class and what can be done outside of class. Students at all levels need to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to develop patterns of daily participation in physical activity.

“Got Disc?”: The “Ultimate” Experience in Physical Education

JOPERD • Volume 77 No. 9 • November/December 2006 O ne characteristic of a quality physical education program is that students are exposed to, and can participate in, a variety of sports and activities (Darst & Pangrazi, 2006). Most physical educators would agree that a primary objective for teaching physical education is for every student to fi nd at least one activity to enjoy and participate in regularly. All students need and deserve exposure to numerous sports and activities during their K-12 physical education experience, so they can make informed decisions as adults about how they want to be physically active. One activity that is increasing in popularity is the game of “Ultimate.” Ultimate was invented more than 40 years ago and is played today in over 90 countries (Ultimate Players Association [UPA], 2005). Opportunities to play both for recreation and competition are increasing across the country. Ultimate is an invasion game in which a team attempts to complete a pass in the opposing team’s endzone. The game includes strategies and tactics similar to football, soccer, and basketball. What makes Ultimate unique is that a disc (i.e., a Frisbee) is used instead of a ball. Discs are peculiar playing objects that offer activity experiences unlike traditional “ball” sports, because their aerodynamics differ so greatly from that of balls. This is why some dog owners love to throw discs for their dogs to run and catch. Discs sail and hover through the air, often giving more time for a receiver to run them down and catch them. Our favorite part of teaching Ultimate is exposing students to an activity that can be played anywhere as long as a there is a fi eld, a disc, and a few players. Our approach to teaching Ultimate focuses on creating learning experiences that enable students to have fun, be successful, and be highly engaged in activity for a majority of class time (Prusak & Vincent, 2005). The purpose of this article is to describe why Ultimate is an appropriate activity for physical education, how to play it, and how to teach it effectively.

A Competency-Based Approach to Secondary Student Teaching in Physical Education

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a competency-based approach to secondary student teaching in physical education. Secondary physical education student teachers (N = 7) were observed along with one class of students from each teachers assignment during baseline and intervention conditions. Seven categories of teacher behavior and two categories of student behavior were observed with an interobserver reliability of 94%. Behaviors were observed by event and placheck recording procedures and were converted to rates per minute and percentages. These rates per minute and percentages were analyzed by behavior profiles and a multiple baseline design. Teacher behaviors included positive reactions to on-task behavior, negative reactions to off-task behavior, positive instructional feedback both general and specific, corrective instructional feedback both general and specific, and pupil contacts using the pupils first name. The student behaviors included appropriate/inappropriat...

The Common Core Learning Standards: Where Does Physical Education Fit In?

The controversial “Common Core” standards in English and mathematics are focused on curricula that will lead to higher levels of learning, and better prepare student for success in society. What is the correlation between the Common Core and physical education? Do enhanced learning practices in English and mathematics identify closely with the “physical” aspect of our profession? This article explores answers to these questions.