Students' Motivation Toward Running in Middle School Physical Education and Athletics

Regular running is essential to both physical education (PE) and athletics programs in many middle schools. To effectively promote it among students, it is critical for teachers and coaches to understand their motivation toward running. According to the expectancy-value theory (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998), expectancy beliefs and task values are two constructs that influence students' motivation-related behaviors including their curricular and task choices. Therefore, the present study attempted to examine students' expectancy beliefs, task values, and their intention for future participation in running across PE and athletics settings. Specifically, two research questions guided the study: Do students in PE and athletics differ in their expectancy beliefs, task values, and intention for future participation in running? What are the relationships among these three variables? Participants (N = 493; 256 boys, 237 girls; 254 athletics, 239 PE/Wellness) were seventh graders who were enrolled in either PE/wellness or athletics. They completed a 13-item, 5-point scale questionnaire, adapted from previous work (Xiang, McBride, Guan & Solmon, 2003), assessing their expectancy beliefs, task values, and intention for future participation in running at the end of the semesters. The multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant difference between students in PE and athletics, Wilkes' l = .892, F(3, 487) = 19.79, p < .001, h² = .108. Univariate analyses indicated that students in PE scored lower on task values (p < .001), expectancy beliefs (p < .001), and intentions for future participation in running (p < .001) than their counterparts in athletics. Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed students' task values and expectancy beliefs positively predicted their intention for future participation in running for both groups. Specifically, PE students' task values (b = .70, p < .001) explained 67.9% of the variance while their expectancy beliefs (b = .19, p < .001) accounted for 2%. Similarly, athletics students' task values (b = .65, p < .001) explained 59.2% of the variance while their expectancy beliefs (b = .21, p < .001) accounted for 2.8%. Results of this study revealed differing motivation levels for running between PE and athletics students. However, their intention for future participation in running was determined by the same factors. Thus, teachers and coaches should help students view running as important, interesting and useful while fostering positive ability perceptions if they wish to promote continued engagement in running among all students regardless of whether they are in PE or athletics.
Keyword(s): curriculum, middle school issues, physical education PK-12