We used achievement goal theory to examine students' physical activity (PA) motivation and physical education (PE) enjoyment. Purposes included: 1) determine whether schools with different pedagogical approaches varied in student perceptions of mastery and performance climate dimensions, enjoyment, and PA; 2) examine gender and grade differences…

Building on a pedagogical model designed to support the teaching and learning of the language of science investigation practices with middle school emergent bilingual learners, we developed a series of soccer and science investigations to promote interest and engagement in science learning. We used assemblage theory to study how students engaged…

A legacy emphasis was one of the fundamental pillars of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The notion of an Olympic legacy was predicated on assumptions that the event's value would not purely derive from the sporting spectacle, but rather from the "success" of enduring effects met out in London and across the country. For physical education…

An estimated 20% of all adolescents will experience a depressive disorder by the age of 18, with schools being at the forefront of initiatives to promote resilience and well-being. This study reports on the development of the 24-item Student Perception of Wellbeing Questionnaire (SPWQ), created as a measure of well-being in three areas: exercise,…

Couched in attitude theory, this follow-up study examines children-voiced perceptions of "enjoyment" and "usefulness" toward a "district mandated" elementary physical education (PE) program. Attitudes of 277 5th and 6th grade males and females from four representative schools from within a district were assessed in a…

Background: Field dependence-independence (FDI) is a tendency to rely on external frames (given situations and authoritative people) or internal frames (oneself, including one's own body) for one's information processing and behavior. Literature has constantly reported that field-dependent (FD) individuals, who are less autonomous in…

The objective of the study was to improve physical activity (PA) surveillance of the Healthy People 2010 Objective 22:10 (i.e., 50% of the lesson time engaged in PA) by establishing a pedometer steps/min guideline to quantify time engaged in PA during physical education. A sample of 180 middle school students had their PA measured via pedometry…

Using a multitheory approach, this study was designed to investigate the influence of urban adolescents' perceived autonomy and competence in physical education on their physical activity intentions and behaviors during leisure time. A transcontextual model was hypothesized and tested. Urban adolescents (N = 653, ages 11-15 years) completed…

Eighth graders (N = 136) were divided into two groups: students who had participated in at least one interscholastic sport and were classified as athletes (n = 73), and students who had not participated in interscholastic sports and were classified as nonathletes (n = 63). The mean grade point average (GPA) for each group and subgroup was computed…