Autonomy support, motivational climate, enjoyment and perceived competence in physical education: Impact of a hybrid teaching games for understanding/sport education unit

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of a hybrid teaching games for understanding (TGfU) and sport education (SE) physical education unit on autonomy support, perceived motivational climate, enjoyment and perceived competence, in comparison to a unit delivered via a traditional direct instruction model. A crossover design was utilized. Participants were 55 students divided into two groups. One group experienced a hybrid TGfU/SE unit first, followed by a unit of direct instruction. A second group experienced the units in the opposite order. The hybrid unit was designed according to the characteristics of SE (e.g. formal competition, seasons, team identity, roles, etc.) and learning tasks were designed to integrate the pedagogical principles of TGfU. Dependent variables were measured using validated questionnaires. Results showed that regardless of the order of intervention, students in the two groups reported significantly higher mean scores in interest in athletes’ input, praise for autonomous behavior, perceived competence, and enjoyment when they were taught using the hybrid TGfU/SE unit. The results demonstrate some initial evidence that a teacher’s employment of a hybrid TGfU/SE unit can encourage students to assume responsibilities and make independent decisions, which leads to them reporting greater enjoyment and perceived competence when compared to physical education lessons delivered via a traditional direct instruction model.

Can a Hybrid Sport Education/Teaching Games for Understanding Volleyball Unit Be More Effective in Less Motivated Students? An Examination into a Set of Motivation-Related Variables

“…Yet, no improvements were obtained in autonomous motivation, in relatedness satisfaction, and in intention to be physically active. In the other study conducted by Gil-Arias et al [32], significant improvements were observed in the students' perceptions of autonomy support from PE teachers in competence, satisfaction, and in enjoyment, when students received the hybrid SE/TGfU teaching unit. Therefore, due both to the limitation of studies, as well as the identification of some discrepancies in the findings, more studies which analyze the effects of the hybridization of these two models on a wide range of SDT-related variables, are required.…”

“…To date, only two previous intervention studies have examined the effects of hybrid SE/TGfU teaching units in PE lessons on some SDT-related variables [32,33], and none of them have examined if less amotivated students could benefit more from this type of intervention. To fill this gap, this study aimed to examine the extent to which a hybrid SE/TGfU volleyball teaching unit was equally effective on a set of SDT-related variables according to students' initial motivation.…”

“…The SE model and the TGfU model share common pedagogical characteristics, which help PE teachers comply with the curricular elements described in current educational frameworks. According a previous systematic review about the hybridization of pedagogical models [10] there are only two studies that have analyzed the effect of hybrid SE/TGfU teaching units on a set of SDT-related variables [32,33]. In the study by Gil-Arias et al [33], the students who received the SE/TGfU teaching unit obtained significant improvements in autonomy and competence satisfaction, as well as enjoyment, compared with students who had received a technical models-based teaching unit within a cross-over designed study.…”

“…According a previous systematic review about the hybridization of pedagogical models [10], only two previous intervention studies have examined the effects of hybrid SE/TGfU teaching units in PE lessons on SDT-related variables [32,33]. None of them have examined their effects according to the initial motivational profiles found in the students.…”

“…In each session, the teacher initially presented a tactical problem to be solved, and the students tried to find a solution. Thus, contextualized situations were presented to the students, which maintained the essential part of volleyball, through the design of modified games [12,32]. The tactical complexity of the tasks was adapted to the students' needs and characteristics.…”