The Choices Made by Adolescents in High School Physical Education Classes: Effects of Grade, Age, and Gender on the Type of Activity

Antonio Sabino da Silva Filho, Go Tani, Walter Roberto Correia, Umberto Cesar Corrêa

Escola de Educa??o Física e Esporte, Universidade de S?o Paulo, S?o Paulo, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/ape.2012.24028                

Abstract

The comprehension of the adolescent student’s choices might help teachers to select content and to develop strategies, since they show what in fact motivates the adolescent and how. This study investigated the choices made by adolescents in different high school physical education classes in relation to grade, age, and gender. The participants included 271 high school students enrolled in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade mixed classes (boys and girls). The design involved three programs in which a type of activity was developed: walking, running, and futsal. Each program comprised five classes in relation to social, competition, game-like, and fitness themes, from which the students chose. The dependent variable was the theme chosen, and trend analyses and multiple comparisons were performed. The results revealed that girls chose more walking activities with a social theme, and boys’ choices were related to competition and game-like themes. The fitness theme was the least popular for both girls and boys. Activities for girls that include a social focus might have a greater appeal, while competition and game-like activities would likely have greater acceptance among male students. No tendency related to the grades and ages progressions was observed.

Keywords

Adolescent; Choice; Physical Education; Motivation; High School; Type of Activity

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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