From a social cognitive perspective, self-efficacy is an interdisciplinary concept associated with an individual's conception of ability to successfully change or continue a desired behavior (Bandura, 1977). Accordingly, perceptions of self-efficacy have been associated with such aspects as effort and perseverance (Bandura, 1986). Effort and perseverance are important characteristics of student behavior in physical education, especially since literature has identified a lack of student involvement, boredom and desire to quit during lessons as problematic (Himberg, Hutchinson & Rousell, 2002; Siedentop & Tannehill, 2000). An important measure of self-efficacy within physical education is physical self-efficacy (PSE) due to the strong and contextually relevant connection within an activity setting (McAuley & Blissmer, 2000). As such, psychology related research in physical education would benefit from studies which focus on the implementation of instructional approaches which can positively influence PSE. The Sport Education Model (SEM) with goals "to educate students to be players in the fullest sense and to help them develop as competent, literate, and enthusiastic sportspeople" (Siedentop, Hastie, & van der Mars, 2004, p.7) could be an effective instructional approach in creating an environment for facilitating student's PSE. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the SEM on students' PSE and related sub-components of perceived physical ability (PPA) and perceived self-presentation (PSP) in physical education.
Method
Two intact heterogeneous university classes were engaged in 16 lesson units of volleyball, using either the Sport Education Model (SEM) or Traditional-approach (Skill-Drill-Game). Data were collected using a pretest/posttest design measuring PSE, PPA and PSP.
Analysis/Results
Analysis of data utilized three separate (2 x 2) (Group X Time) repeated measures ANOVA and post hoc analysis to identify any significant between and within-group changes. Bonferroni adjustments were calculated due to the multiple ANOVA tests (p≤.017). Results indicated significant Group X Time interaction for PSE F (1,38)= 95.28, P=.000 and PPA F(1,38)= 14.06, p=.004.
Conclusions
The SEM effectively brought about positive changes in students efficacious self-perceptions of a sport-based physical education experience. This further illustrates the potential the SEM has on teaching students sport within physical education (Pritchard, et al., 2008; Browne et. al, 2003; Wallhead & Ntoumanis, 2004; Kinchin, 2006).