Scheduled for Research Consortium Psychology and Sociocultural Poster Session, Friday, April 15, 2005, 8:45 AM - 10:15 AM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Area I


The Implementation and Effectiveness of an Initiative Game Activities Program on Social Interaction in Fifth- and Sixth-Grade Students (Sociocultural)

Hui-Chun Peng1, Chien-Chih Chou1, Wen-Yi Wang1 and Mei-Yao Huang2, (1)Taipei Physical Education College, Taipei, Taiwan, (2)National College of Physical Education and Sports, Taiwan, China

From a social reconstruction perspective, social needs take precedence over individual needs. However, curricula based on a social reconstruction value orientation are planed to include instruction and practice in the skills of participation in a democracy, leadership skills, group cooperation, and problem solving. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation and effectiveness of initiative game activities program within fifth and sixth grade students' social interaction and learning satisfaction in physical education classes. Fifth and Sixth grade elementary school students (n= 102) and their physical education teachers from four separate classes participated in this study. The Children's Social Interaction Questionnaire (CSIQ) was used to assess students' level of social interaction during initiative game activities of physical education. It includes three factors which is social skill, being pleased with others, and liked by others. The Children's Feelings of Enjoyment in Physical Education Questionnaire was used to understand their attitude toward initiative game activities program of physical education. The physical education lessons were used the Initiative Game Activities curriculum for ten weeks. Data was gathered during a period of introductory 10-week initiative game activity units. The results from this study show that the student in the post-test had significantly improved than the pre-test on the scores of social skill and being pleased with others. The findings also pointed out no significant difference between pre-test and post-test on the factor of liked by others in the study. Furthermore, the results also revealed a significant difference in the level of attitude of learning satisfaction toward physical activity between pre-test and post-test. Another important finding was that the Initiative Game Activities curriculum was associated with improvements in social interaction and the children's attitude toward physical activity. As the results, we know that to relevant training for educators of students' social skills in physical education class may be required. In summary, the findings of this study indicated that peer training alone was not sufficient to improve children's use of specific social initiation strategies. Combining peer training and instruction of the initiative game activities contextually supportive social activities appears necessary to impact changes in a variety of social-interaction skills.
Keyword(s): elementary education, play

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