Background/Purpose To determine the influence of instructional climates on class time spent in management tasks and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA).
Method Forty-eight 2nd graders participated in a 5-week physical education intervention that promoted physical activity. Prior to the intervention, typical physical education (TPE) class (n = 48) consisted of 50-minute class periods. Students were randomly assigned to a mastery (n = 23) or performance (n = 25) climate that occurred daily for 25 minutes across 5 weeks. The System for Observing Fitness and Instruction Time (SOFIT) was used to determine the percentage of class time spent in management tasks and MVPA. SOFIT is a time-sampling observation protocol that includes a 10-second observe and 10-second record interval. Data was analyzed with two independent-samples Kruskal-Wallis tests.
Analysis/Results A significant difference was found between climates on percentage of time spent in management (p < .001). The mastery climate (9.6%; p < .001) spent significantly less time in management compared to the performance climate (23.5%; p < .001) and TPE (54.6%; p < .001). A significant difference was found between climates on percentage of class time students spent in MVPA (p = .01). MVPA during the mastery (68%) and performance climate (67%) was significantly higher compared to TPE (p < .001).
Conclusions A mastery climate allowed students to make engagement-related decisions and less time was spent in management tasks. Regardless of climate, students spent more time in MVPA compared to TPE. High-quality instruction that supports autonomy promotes physical activity during physical education.
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