Because the primary goal of physical education is to develop physically active lifestyles, physical educators must foster engagement in consistent physical activity. Determining appropriate teaching behaviors and motivational climates may help educators endorse optimal physical education climates for supporting students’ motivation to continue to participate in physical activities. Using Achievement Goal Theory, this study examined middle school students’ perceived motivational climates that may result from receiving different types of feedback. Participants’ motivational constructs were also examined.
Method:
Participants (N=286) from two middle schools in Florida were randomly assigned to one of three feedback treatment conditions in small groups of 3 to 5 and completed a pre- and post-task questionnaire. Participants were then presented cues and demonstrations of an unfamiliar sport skill, the lacrosse shot. Following the task presentation, groups completed the task by shooting at a goal one at a time, totaling 10 attempts each. Each group was assigned to receive only positive general feedback (PGF), skill-specific corrective feedback (SSCF), or no feedback (NF) after each attempt. The total number of successful shot attempts at the goal was an objective performance evaluation, while the post-task questionnaire measured participants’ subjective performance evaluation, perceived motivational climate, perceived competence, and participation intentions.
Analysis/Results:
Multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference in perceptions of the motivational climate as mastery- and performance-involved considering feedback condition. The multivariate effect was significant by feedback condition [F(3, 849)=4.706,p<.001,partial η2=.032] and univariate effects exposed significant differences in perceptions of the motivational climate as mastery-involved across feedback conditions [F(2, 283)=9.439,p<.001, partial η2 = .06]. LSD post hoc suggested participants who received PGF considered the motivational climate to be more mastery-involved than those who received SSCF or NF. Simple linear regressions revealed that perceptions of a mastery-involved motivational climate predicted perceived competence (R=.292,R2=.085,F(1, 284)=25.845,p<.001), participation intentions (R=-.141, R2=.020,F(1, 284)=5.740,p<.05), and subjective performance evaluation (R=.226,R2=.051,F(1, 284)=15.137,p<.001). No other predictive relationships were found.
Conclusions:
Results from this study indicate that when students receive PGF during skill practice in physical education, they perceive the motivational climate to be more mastery-involved. This is especially important since perceptions of a mastery-involved motivational climate was found to predict future participation intentions, higher self-evaluation, and greater perceived competence. Although further research is warranted, supporting mastery-involved motivational climates may be an important consideration for teachers in conjunction with the type of feedback they provide to students.