MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS RELATED TO THE PARTICIPATION OF STUDENTS IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES IN ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOLS

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the reasons that lead students to participate in Physical Education classes in elementary and high school. 131 students of both sexes, aged between 10 and 19 years, participated in the research. A questionnaire on motivational factors related to student participation in Physical Education classes was used. For data analysis, the usual descriptive statistics procedures were used, such as absolute (n) and relative (%) frequency distribution. To test the association between qualitative variables, a bivariate analysis was performed using Pearson's chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. The collected data were stored and organized in an Excel spreadsheet. For statistical analysis, the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 program was used. Adopting a significance level of 5% (p<0.05). Among the variables of the questionnaire on motivational factors, there was a statistically significant difference in the items “To learn new knowledge” (p=0.048) and “Why am I obliged” (p=0.013). It was found that the main motivational factors were related to the learning of new knowledge and skills during the classes of the discipline and the participation of students in Physical Education classes by obligation. The use of other data collection techniques is recommended, such as systematic observations of classes and interviews with students and teachers of the discipline so that motivation and the factors associated with it can be analyzed in a more in-depth and contextualized manner.