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Children's motivational experiences following autonomy-supportive games lessons

2008; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 14; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/1356336x08095673

1741-2749

James Mandigo, Nicholas L. Holt, Andy Anderson, Joanna Sheppard,

Physical Education and Pedagogy

The objectives of this study were (a) to examine students' motivational experiences arising from their participation in games lessons based on autonomy-supportive strategies; and (b) to examine the interaction between boys' and girls' motivational experiences across different categories of games. A total of 759 students (380 F, 379 M) from 37 classes (grades four to seven) were taught a lesson from one of four game categories (i.e. target, net/wall, batting/fielding, invasion) using autonomy-supportive techniques. Following the lessons children completed various measures to assess their motivational experiences. Significant between-subject differences did emerge for both gender and games category. Girls reported higher levels of optimal challenge, perceived autonomy-support, and enjoyment whereas boys reported higher levels of perceived competence. For the games category, participants reported higher levels of self-determined motivation in net/wall games whereas invasion games received the lowest motivational ratings of the four games categories.