Effectiveness of ‘target’ strategies on perceived motivational climate in physical education

Abstract

Grounded in Achievement Goal Theory of Nicholls (1989), the aim of this study was to assess the development of four teaching interventions based on the TARGET areas of Ames (1992) and verify their effect on the perceived motivational climate at situational level in Physical Education (PE) classes. Participants were 580 secondary education students aged between 11 and 15 (12.46±1.15) years. A quasiexperimental design was utilised for four teaching units, each lasting for 10 sessions. The intervention programme was applied in the four experimental subgroups (n=263) by means of motivational strategies to generate a task-oriented climate. In the four control subgroup (n=317), students received conventional PE classes. The perceived motivational climate of each unit was evaluated at the end of the intervention for the different contents. Results showed significantly higher values for the experimental subgroups, in terms of perceived task-oriented motivational climate for the four teaching units, than in the control subgroups. These findings highlight the need to generate specific intervention strategies in order to generate an optimal motivational climate in PE classes.

Keywords: Teaching intervention; TARGET areas; Adolescence; Task-oriented climate; Motivational climate; Physical education.