Italian Journal of Health Education, Sports and Inclusive Didactics
PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND MOTIVATIONAL PROFILES IN PRIMARY SCHOOL: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY THROUGH THE SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY CONTINUUM
Abstract
Student motivation is a crucial predictive factor for academic success in primary education. Among the various strategies available, physical education proves to be a particularly effective approach for promoting and sustaining motivation (Donnelly & Lambourne, 2011; Rasberry et al., 2011). The present study examined the influence of physical education on student motivation within the framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2017).
The study employed a cluster quasi-experimental single-blind design. It involved 218 students from fourth and fifth grade classes at a primary school in the province of Naples, equally divided into an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG). Initial equivalence between groups was verified at pre-test. Motivation was assessed using the Self-Regulation Questionnaire-Academic (SRQ-A; Ryan & Connell, 1989), while physical activity levels were measured using the Italian version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C; Gobbi et al., 2016; Kowalski et al., 2004). Data were analysed through mixed repeated-measures ANOVA (Split-Plot 2×2) and hierarchical linear regression.
The results showed an improvement in motivation in the EG compared to the CG at post-intervention.
In conclusion, these results invite critical reflection on the need to foster deeper internalization processes, as envisaged by the self-determination continuum (Ryan & Deci, 2017), through teaching strategies that integrate support for autonomy and competence, so as to optimize the environmental conditions needed to sustain a progressive internalization towards more self-determined forms of learning motivation.Keywords
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.32043/gsd.v10i2.1719
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Italian Journal of Health Education, Sports and Inclusive Didactics
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