1. 2008 AAHPERD Research Consortium Seed Grant Zan Gao, James C. Hannon, Maria Newton, Chaoqun Huang University of Utah

2. Background and Significance School physical education and children ’ s physical activity levels Students ’ situational motivation toward physical education (Ryan & Deci, 2000) - intrinsic motivation (IM) - identified regulation (IR) - external regulation (ER) - amotivation (AM) IM and IR represent higher levels of motivation

3. Background and Significance Motivation and learning activity  student learning It is necessary to examine the relation between learning activity and students’ motivation towards physical education (Chen, 2001). Learning activity  students’ in-class activity levels (Fairclough & Stratton, 2006). Few studies have assessed the effects of learning activity on students’ physical activity levels using accelerometer.

4. Background and Significance Multi-activity units have dominated PE for decades, today’s students  healthy lifestyles, content related to fitness and health. This study compared the impact of three types of learning activity on students’ motivation and in-class activity levels in physical education. 1. cardiovascular fitness 2. ultimate football 3. Dance Dance Revolution (DDR)

5. Study Aims To examine the effect of three learning activities on students’ situational motivation and physical activity levels in physical education classes. To examine the relative contributions of the four situational motivation factors (intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, external regulation, and amotivation) to physical activity levels across the three activities.

6. Research Hypotheses Students would exhibit the highest level of self- determined motivation in the DDR unit, followed by ultimate football and cardiovascular fitness. Students would display significantly higher physical activity levels in the DDR and ultimate football than in the cardiovascular fitness stations. Students’ intrinsic motivation is expected to be the most important predictor of their physical activity levels across the three activities.

7. Research Design and Participants A repeated measures design Three days of in-class activity level and situational motivation data for fitness, football, and DDR units respectively. The participants: 412 7th-9th graders 50-minute physical education class The fitness unit: five stations The football unit: play games The DDR unit:

8. Instrumentation Standardized self-report questionnaires were used to assess students’ situational motivation in physical education class (Guay, Vallerand, & Blanchard, 2000). In-class activity levels - accelerometers (ActiGraph GT1M) - three separate classes for each learning activity

9. Data Analyses 1. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients and Pearson product- moment correlations were computed. 2. A MANOVA with repeated measures was performed to examine if students’ situational motivation and physical activity levels differed by three activities. 3. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to assess the predictive utility of the situational motivation variables to students’ physical activity levels.

10. Results Wilks’ Lambda =.24, F (10, 270) = 87.45, p =.00, η2 =.76. VariableFitnessFootballDDR MSDM M TimeMV 40.46 a 18.5937.09 a 25.247.91 b 9.58 IM 4.73 a 1.534.641.584.54 b 1.55 IR 5.02 a 1.344.78 b 1.474.69 b 1.43 ER 4.461.584.381.514.331.47 AM 3.52 a 1.493.71 b 1.533.84 b 1.54 Table 1. MVPA and Motivation Differences by Learning Activity (N =280) a, b: there is a significant difference between the groups, p <.05.

11. Results Final estimation of variance components Df =373 Chi-square = 830.14 P-value =.00 CoefficientT-ratio Approx. d.f. P-value IM1.392.282260.02* IR.80.622260.20 ER.34.502260.49 AM-1.81.472260.00* Table 2. Prediction of MVPA (N =280)

12. Discussion Students were not as physically active in DDR as they were in fitness and football. Students’ also displayed lower level of motivation toward DDR. The results suggest that fitness units are an effective learning activity to incorporate to maximize MVPA and intrinsic motivation.

13. Discussion Students’ IM positively predicted percentages of time spent in MVPA. Instructors should present and organize the activities in an interesting, novel, meaningful and enjoyable way which lead to the maximum of MVPA in physical education. Future studies might focus on effects of skill levels on students’ motivation and MVPA in different activities.

14. QUESTIONS?