Manipulation of motivational climate in physical education: Effects of a seven-month intervention

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of an intervention programme that manipulated task, authority, recognition, grouping, evaluation and time (TARGET) structures on the cognitive and affective response of students to their physical education (PE) lesson. The sample consisted of 374 high school students ( M age = 13.8, S.D. = .73) assigned to either an intervention or a control group. The students completed measures of perceptions of motivational (task- and ego-involving) climate, dispositional achievement goals (task and ego orientation), intrinsic motivation and trait anxiety (cognitive processes, somatic anxiety and worry). The questionnaires were administered at the beginning and at the end of the academic year, that is, within a period of seven months. In between the two measurements, PE teachers taught the intervention group using the TARGET structures. The results of a Multilevel Random Coefficient Modelling indicated that students in the intervention group reported higher levels of teachers' emphasis on learning orientation, students' learning orientation, students' task orientation, enjoyment and perceived competence, and lower levels of worry after the intervention. These findings support the positive influence of TARGET structures on cognitive and affective responses of the students to PE lessons.