Learners' motivational response to the Science, PE, & Me! curriculum: A situational interest perspective

Does Content-Focused Intervention Enhance Motivation in Physical Education? A Meta-Analysis

Guided by the content specificity perspective of motivation, the purpose of the study was to identify the extent to which student motivation level is a function of content variations. Motivation intervention studies were reviewed and categorized into content-focused and motivation-only learning contexts for meta-analysis. Original and calculated effect sizes were used to determine the effects of each learning context on student motivation change. Two independent sample t-tests were conducted to compare effect sizes. The analyses showed that the content-focused learning context was effective in student motivation change (effect size g = 0.88). Within the content-focused learning context, intervention content was significantly more effective in student motivation change than the conventional curriculum (effect size g = 0.36). The findings suggest a possibility that motivation is content-specific and should be part of the curriculum.

Effects of Exergaming on College Students' Situational Interest, Self-Efficacy, and Motion Sickness

Objective: Given the low levels of physical activity (PA) among U.S. college students, the use of exergaming as a supplement to traditional exercise may promote higher levels of motivation and PA. Therefore, this study’s purpose was to examine the effect of two different exergames on college students’ situational interest (SI), self-efficacy (SE), and equilibrium change (EQC) compared to traditional treadmill walking. Methods: Sixty college students (30 female; Mage = 23.6 ± 4.1 years; MBMI = 23.9 ± 4.0 kg/m2) participated in three separate 20 min exercise sessions: (1) Xbox 360 Kinect Just Dance; (2) Xbox 360 Kinect Reflex Ridge; and (3) traditional treadmill walking at 4.0 mph. Participants’ SI, SE, and EQC were measured after each session using a series of validated surveys. Results: A mixed model analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with repeated measures evaluated mean differences between exercise sessions for all outcomes. Significant main effects were observed between the three exercise sessions (all p < 0.01). Specifically, Just Dance and Reflex Ridge sessions yielded significantly higher SI scores than treadmill exercise, F (10, 49) = 54.61, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.92. In addition, participants experienced significantly lower EQC in Reflex Ridge than in treadmill exercise, F (2, 58) = 4.26, p = 0.02, η2 = 0.13. No differences were identified for SE. Conclusion: The integration of exergaming into traditional exercise routines may help to promote higher levels of SI but not SE amongst college students. RR exergaming also demonstrated low EQC as compared to traditional exercise. Experimental study designs are warranted to provide additional evidence on the efficacy of exergaming.