New models for teaching sports have arisen in the last years, characterised by the use of more contextualised situations, modified games, tactical awareness, transference of technical–tactical learning and different teaching progression, among other aspects. In this regard, small-sided games must be highlighted, due to their ability to integrate physical fitness, technique and tactical behaviour stimuli in similar conditions to the real game. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to analyse and describe the methodological possibilities that SSGs can provide regarding the teaching of technical–tactical aspects in team sports at young ages. The guidelines of the PRISMA declaration were followed with the purpose of conducting a systematic search. The search was performed in the databases Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus and SportDiscus. From the 451 identified in an early phase, plus the 20 found in the references of other studies, only 47 met the inclusion criteria and were selected. The results yielded scientific evidence that justifies the use of small-sided games as a methodological resource for sports teaching at young ages. Among the main reasons, it can be highlighted that a reduction in the number of players and in the size of the pitch area increases the total ball contact per player and, therefore, the number of technical actions. Moreover, the intentional modification of certain rules helps to develop some sport training fundamentals.

The question of how games should be taught is still a controversial subject. There has been a growing number of studies on teaching games and coaching sports since the first publication of Bunker and Thorpe on Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU). In this sense, the present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to systematically review the scientific literature about the effects of technical and tactical approach interventions on skill execution and decision making, and to examine the influence of the teacher/coach management style. A systematic literature search was carried out in accordance with PRISMA guidelines in Web of Science (WOS), PubMed (Medline), Scopus, and SportDiscus electronic databases. A total of seven and six studies were deemed to meet the inclusion criteria for decision making and skill execution, respectively. Meta-analysis results showed that tactical interventions achieved significant improvements in decision making (effect size = 0.89 with 95% confidence interval (CI) from 0.12 to 1.65), but they did not show significant improvements in skill execution (effect size = 0.89 with 95% CI from −0.45 to 2.23) compared to technical approaches. However, the heterogeneity of interventions was large and the quality of evidence was low according to GRADE. In conclusion, tactical approaches are recommended to teach games and sports in order to develop technique, understanding, tactical knowledge, and decision making, which are demanded in game play. These findings could be useful for teachers and coaches to improve these aspects of their players and students.

The theoretical framework of the self-determination theory establishes that the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and more self-determined motivational forms are related to positive behavioral consequences and, therefore, may increase the intention to be physically active in Physical Education students. In this sense, the need for novelty has been proposed as a psychological need by recent scientific evidence, so it is necessary to prove its possible contribution to the prediction of young people's behavior. Therefore, the main objective of the study was to test a model that analyzed the power of prediction of the satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence, relatedness, and novelty as well as the motivation experienced in Physical Education on the intention to be physically active. A questionnaire was administered to 1665 Physical Education students with an average age of 12.43 years (SD = 1.87), of which 835 were boys and 830 were girls. An adaptation of the Spanish educational context of the Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale (BPNES) that includes the need for novelty, the Perceived Locus of Causality Scale (PLOC), and the Intention to be Physically Active Scale (IPAS) was used. Path analysis results showed that the satisfaction of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, relatedness, and novelty predicted autonomous motivation. On the other hand, the need for autonomy positively predicted controlled motivation, while the satisfaction of relatedness did so negatively. The need for competence and autonomous motivation positively predicted the intention to be physically active in Physical Education students, obtaining an explained variance of 33%. However, controlled motivation was not related in a statistically significant way to the intention to be physically active. In conclusion, the results of the hypothesized model highlight the importance of satisfying all the basic psychological needs (including novelty) and give special emphasis to the need for competence, since it predicts autonomous motivation and the intention to be physically active outside of the educational context.

The aim was to review the effects of cooperative learning interventions on intrinsic motivation in physical education students, as well as to conduct a meta-analysis to determinate the overall effect size of these interventions. The PRISMA guidelines were followed to conduct this systematic review and meta-analysis. The PEDro Scale was used to assess the risk of bias and the GRADE approach was used to evaluate the quality of the evidence. A total of five studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and they were included in the meta-analysis. Effect size for intrinsic motivation of each study was calculated using the means and standard deviations of the Perceived Locus of Causality Scale (PLOC) before and after the intervention. The overall effect size for intrinsic motivation was 0.38 (95% CI from 0.17 to 0.60) while the heterogeneity was large. Although four of the five studies reported significant within-group improvements in intrinsic motivation, only three studies showed significant between-group differences in favor of the experimental group. The findings showed that program duration and participant age may be relevant factors that must be considered by educators and researchers to conduct future effective interventions. Cooperative learning interventions could be a useful teaching strategy to improve physical education students’ intrinsic motivation. However, given the large heterogeneity and the low quality of the evidence, these findings must be taken with caution.

En los últimos años, ha aumentado la importancia de las emociones en la educación escolar. La bibliografía actual ha puesto de manifiesto los beneficios de generar climas de aula positivos, en los que existan relaciones afectivas entre los agentes involucrados en el proceso educativo. El presente estudio tuvo por objetivo conocer la relación entre el clima de aula generado y las emociones experimentadas por los estudiantes. La hipótesis planteada fue que el clima de aula generado podría predecir las emociones experimentadas por los estudiantes. Para ello, se utilizó una muestra de 417 alumnos y alumnas de educación secundaria (44.1% hombres y 55.9% mujeres) pertenecientes a tres centros educativos de Huelva (Andalucía, España). A estos estudiantes se les preguntó sobre el clima existente en el aula y las emociones experimentadas durante sus clases de educación física. Los resultados del estudio confirman la relación entre el clima de aula y las emociones, destacando el poder predictor de las dimensiones “satisfacción e involucración en el aula” y “relación con el profesor” para predecir las emociones experimentadas por los estudiantes. Dichos resultados permiten poner en valor la importancia de generar climas positivos a través de la creación de vínculos emocionales entre profesores y alumnos. De esta forma, los alumnos y las alumnas se sentirán a gusto y generarán emociones positivas tan importantes en el proceso educativo. Abstract. Recently, the importance of emotions in school education has increased. The current literature has highlighted the benefits of generating positive classroom climates, in which there are affective relationships between agents involved in the educational process. This study aimed to know the relationship between the classroom climate generated and the emotions experienced by the students. The hypothesis was that the classroom climate generated could predict the emotions experienced by the students. For this, a sample of 417 secondary school students was used (44.1% men and 55.9% women), belonging to three schools located in Huelva (Andalucía, Spain). The students were asked about the existing classroom climate and emotions experienced during their physical education classes. The results of the study confirm the relationship between the classroom climate and emotions. Highlighting the predictive power of the “satisfaction in the classroom” and “relationship with the teacher” dimensions to predict the emotions experienced by students.  These results allow us to know the importance of generating positive climates through the creation of emotional bonds between teachers and their students.  In this way, students will feel comfortable and will generate positive emotions, which are key factors in the educational process.