To promote active and healthy lifestyles in schoolage
children, many afterschool
physical activity programs offer students opportunities to participate in a variety
of physical activities. The effects of such programs on studentsâ levels of physical
activity, however, depend largely on whether the students are motivated to participate
and to demonstrate high levels of engagement behaviors in the programs. Therefore, it is
critical for researchers and teachers to gain an understanding in this area. This study
utilized a trichotomous achievement goal model to explore and describe what actually
happened in terms of studentsâ achievement goals, attitudes, and disruptive behaviors in
an afterschool
physical activity program. More specifically, the purposes of the study
were fivefold: (1) to examine the reliability and validity of the scores generated by the
trichotomous model, (2) to identify achievement goals endorsed by students, (3) to
determine studentsâ attitudes toward the program, (4) to identify studentsâ disruptive
behaviors, and (5) to investigate the relationships among studentsâ achievement goals,
attitudes, attendance, and disruptive behaviors. Results of this study indicate the trichotomous model observed in academic
settings also existed among atrisk
elementary school students in an afterschool
physical
activity program and the scores generated by this model were valid and reliable.
Furthermore, students were found to score significantly higher on the mastery goal than
they did on the performanceapproach
and performanceavoidance
goals, demonstrate
positive attitudes, and display disruptive behaviors identified with the literature. Finally,
the mastery goal was found to be positively related to studentsâ positive attitudes and
negatively related to studentsâ selfreported
low engagement, whereas the performanceapproach
and performanceavoidance
goals were found to be positively related to
studentsâ selfreported
disruptive behaviors.
Overall, the findings of the present study provide empirical support for the
utilization of the trichotomous model in the context of afterschool
physical activity
programs. They also suggest the positive motivational effects of mastery goals observed
in the classroom and physical education can be translated in the context of an afterschool
physical activity program with atrisk
elementary school students. Therefore,
promoting mastery goals among students should become a high priority in afterschool
physical activity programs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/5991 |
| Date | 17 September 2007 |
| Creators | Agbuga, Bulent |
| Contributors | Xiang, Ping |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | 863274 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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