The influence of instructional climates on motor skill competence, physical activity behaviors, and psychosocial variables of 2nd grade students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of two instructional climates (mastery, performance) on: a) motor skill competence, b) physical activity during physical education and after-school, and c) psychosocial variables (i.e., attitude toward and enjoyment of physical activity and physical education, perceived physical competence) in 2nd grade students. The Test of Gross Motor Development- 2 (Ulrich, 2000) assessed fundamental motor skills prior to, following (post-intervention), and 10-weeks after the intervention (retention). There was no significant main effect of climate (F(1, 43) = .001, p = .98, η2 < .001) or interaction between climate and time (F(1, 43) = 1.2, p = .29, η2 = .03). There was a main effect of time (F(1, 43) = 153.6, p < .001, η2 = .78). Planned contrasts indicate that post-TGMD score was significantly higher than pre- TGMD score (F(1, 43) = 171.5, p < .001, η2 = .8) and there was no significant difference between post- and retention TGMD score (F(1, 43) = .34, p = .56, η2 = .008). In terms of direct observation, an independent samples Kruskal-Wallis test indicated a significant difference between climates on percent of class time students spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; H(2) = 8.53, p = .014). Pairwise comparisons indicate that students assigned to the mastery (p = .011) and the performance (p = .023) climates spent significantly more time in MVPA compared to typical physical education. There was no significant difference between mastery and performance climates (p = .62). A mixed between-within subjects ANOVA indicated no significant main effect of climate (F(1, 22) = .94, p = .343, η2 = .041), time (F(1, 22) = .34, p = .54, η2 = .018), or interaction between climates and time (F(1, 22) = .99, p = .33, η2 = .043). There were no significant differences between or within climates for any of the psychosocial variables at any time point. The findings support the need for physical education reform in the elementary school setting as it relates to promoting motor skill competence and decreasing class time spent in management tasks.