Middle school students’ intrinsic motivation and expectancy value after participating in team sport units

Abstract

Background/Purpose. K-12 students’ motivation levels have declined in physical education (PE) due to the lack of effective instructional practices, inappropriate class activities and gender inequities. Middle school students have shown low levels of motivation in physical education and lack of interest in its content. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine middle school students’ intrinsic motivation and expectancy value after participating in team sports units. Method. Participants consisted of 262 students (122 males; 140 females) from three middle schools located in the southwest region of the United States. After participating in team sport units during PE, the participants completed the expectancy-value questionnaire (Eccles & Wigfield, 1995) and motivation inventory (McAuley, Duncan, & Tammen, 1989). Analysis/Results. Data were analyzed by employing descriptive statistics, t-test, and analysis of variance. Results showed that 6th grade students perceived significantly higher expectancy-value and intrinsic value than 8th grade students in team sports. In addition, male students exhibited significantly higher expectancy-value and intrinsic value compare to female students. However, there was no statistically significant difference among ethnic groups. Conclusion.  This study suggests that female students had lower levels of intrinsic motivation and expectancy value in team sports compared to male students. Furthermore, as students’ grade level increased from 6th to 8th grade, intrinsic motivation and expectancy value decreased.