ARTICLE IN PRESS

Teaching and Teacher Education 23 (2007) 602–611

Middle school students’ attitudes toward physical education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine middle school students’ attitudes toward physical education using an attitude
instrument grounded in attitude theory. In addition, this investigation also sought to ascertain if gender and grade level
influence student attitudes toward the subject matter. Participants for this study were 995 students from grades 6 to 8. A
previously validated attitude instrument based on a two-component view of attitude with scores that showed evidence of
reliability and validity was used. Overall all students had moderately positive attitudes toward physical education. There
was, however, a decline in attitude scores as students progressed in grade level. Higher grades had lower mean scores.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Physical education; Attitude; Middle-school; Gender; Grade-level

1. Middle school students’ attitudes toward physical in which students feel comfortable and confident, it
education will enhance positive attitudes toward the subject
matter (Chen & Darst, 2001; Graham, Holt/Hale, &
There are many factors that may influence Parker, 2004; Hagger, Chatzisarantis, & Biddle,
student learning. The key issue in educational 2002; Mitchell, 1993; Solmon & Carter, 1995). In
research is to identify and understand how these other words, the creation of a positive learning
factors influence student achievement. It is through environment impacts both student attitudes and
this knowledge that we can create a learning student learning. The enhancement of positive
environment that could promote the growth of attitudes, therefore, is one of the key components
components that influence learning in an attempt to that impacts student learning. Students who feel
maximize learning outcomes. In addition, this confident and comfortable in the learning environ-
knowledge also enables us to better understand ment are bound to exhibit a greater interest in
and minimize elements that could impede or accomplishing a learning task. Creating a positive
interfere with the learning process. One aspect that learning environment impacts both student learning
may influence student learning is attitude (Solmon, and student attitudes.
2003). When teachers create a learning environment Cognitive and affective domains are key compo-
nents of how attitudes are formed. This attitudinal
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 607 274 3659; link between the cognitive and affective domains
fax: +1 607 274 1174.
has the potential to impact student learning.
E-mail address: psubramaniam@ithaca.edu Advocates of the two-component construct of
(P.R. Subramaniam). attitude contend that the affective component

0742-051X/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tate.2007.02.003
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
P.R. Subramaniam, S. Silverman / Teaching and Teacher Education 23 (2007) 602–611 603

measures the degree of emotional attraction or physical education, therefore, could have a major
feeling toward an attitude object, and the cognitive effect on public health (McKenzie, 2003).
component accounts for the beliefs about the It has been documented that participation in
characteristics of the attitude object (Gonzàlez, moderate to vigorous physical activity on a regular
1992; Mohsin, 1990; Oppenheim, 1992). The degree basis provides numerous physical and mental health
of emotional attraction and the beliefs about the benefits (American Heart Association, 1995; Biddle,
characteristics of the attitude object (subject matter) 1999; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
that students possess influence student achievement 1997; McKenzie, 2001, 2002; National Association
in all areas. for Sport and Physical Education, 2004; Sallis et al.,
One area where attitude is particularly important 1999; US Department of Health and Human
is physical education. There is emerging evidence to Services, 1996). According to Healthy People 2010
suggest that students who exhibit a more positive (US Department of Health and Human Services,
attitude toward physical activity in physical educa- 2000), the number of overweight children in the
tion are more likely to participate in physical United States has nearly doubled in the past two
activity outside of school (Biddle & Chatzisarantis, decades. Quality physical education programs,
1999; McKenzie, 2003; Portman, 2003; US Depart- therefore, can play a pivotal role in efforts to
ment of Health and Human Services, 1996). This address the increase in physical inactivity among
carry over value in terms of attitudes toward youth by impacting their attitudes and intentions to
physical activity is critical to participation in participate in physical activity (Hagger et al., 2002;
lifetime physical activity. Positive attitudes formed McKenzie, Sallis, Kolody, & Faucette, 1997;
toward physical activity in physical education can McKenzie et al., 2001; Prochaska, Sallis, Slymen,
play an important role in maintaining an active & McKenzie, 2003). Sports, Play, and Active
lifestyle outside school. In addition, active children Recreation for Kids (SPARKS), Child and Adoles-
are more likely to become active adults (Telama, cent Trail for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH),
Yang, Laakso, & Viikari, 1997). Physical education, and Middle School Physical Activity and Nutrition
therefore, can serve as a medium to influence (M-SPAN) are intervention programs that were
student attitudes toward physical activity since it specifically designed to impact student attitudes
has the potential to reach most children (McKenzie, toward physical activity participation. In the
2003). For some students, physical education is the CATCH study, moderate to vigorous physical
only place where they engage in physical activity activity during lessons in intervention schools
(Gallahue & Donnelly, 2003; Graham et al., 2004). increased from 37% to 52%, and moderate to
Impacting upon student attitudes toward physical vigorous physical activity in M-SPAN increased by
activity through school physical education pro- 18%. The SPARKS program also reported gains on
grams is a logical first step in helping students most variables compared to controls (McKenzie,
participate in physical activity—both now and in 2003). Interestingly, students in the CATCH inter-
the future. vention schools continued to report increased daily
The formation of positive attitudes toward physical activity up to three years later compared
physical activity in physical education is all the with students in control schools (Nader et al., 1999).
more important given the increase in physical Students enter the physical education setting with
inactivity among youth internationally (Biddle & different attitudes based on their beliefs and feelings
Goudas, 1996; McKenzie, 2003). McKenzie (2003, toward the subject matter. This difference in
p. 207) emphasized that ‘‘by engaging children and attitude may be attributed to previous experiences
adolescents in enjoyable physical activity and in physical education, skill level, gender, grade level,
teaching them the skills related to developing and social class, ethnicity and disability. There is
maintaining appropriate physical activity, physical evidence to suggest the existence of gender and
education could help future generations of adults grade level influence on attitude toward physical
avoid becoming so sedentary’’. In addition, people’s education and physical activity (Biddle & Chatzi-
attitudes have been found to be the key influence in sarantis, 1999; Biddle & Goudas, 1996; Biddle &
the formation of intentions to participate in physical Mutrie, 2001; Chung & Phillips, 2002; Greenwood
activity (Biddle & Chatzisarantis, 1999; Biddle & & Stillwell, 2001; Hicks, Wiggins, Crist, & Moode,
Mutrie, 2001; Hagger et al., 2002). Impacting 2001). Biddle and Mutrie (2001) documented several
students’ attitudes toward physical activity in studies that have reported gender differences in
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604 P.R. Subramaniam, S. Silverman / Teaching and Teacher Education 23 (2007) 602–611

relation to physical activity participation based conation (Ajzen, 1993; Reddy & LaBarbera, 1985).
upon attitude. In general, boys were reported to There is evidence, however, to suggest a lack of
display more positive attitudes toward physical consistent relationship between overt behavior and
activity than girls. There are other studies that have the measured attitude, thereby casting doubts about
reported gender differences in physical activity the efficacy of the multiple-component view of
participation based on activity type. Boys are attitude (McGuire, 1989; Seeman, 1993). Hagger et
reported to display more positive attitudes toward al. (2002, p. 21–22) pointed out that ‘‘yattitudes
physical activities that are challenging and had an have the most pervasive influence on intentions and
element of risk (Birtwhistle & Brodie, 1991; Colley, also confirm the complete mediation of attitudes on
Comber, & Hargreaves, 1994; Folsom-Meek, 1992; behavior by intentions’’. Without the mediational
Smoll & Schutz, 1980; Wersch, Trew, & Turner, role of intention, the relationship between attitude
1992) while girls have been found to exhibit and behavior is weak. This is particularly significant
favorable attitudes toward activities emphasizing for teachers and teacher educators because student
aesthetics or graceful movements (Folsom-Meek, behavior is not necessarily reflective of student
1992; Hicks et al., 2001). attitude. Judging students’ attitudes based on their
Some studies investigating student attitudes in behavior alone can be misleading and erroneous.
relation to age have reported that attitudes toward Behavioral intentions play an important role in
physical education decline as a function of grade linking attitude to behavior (Biddle & Mutrie, 2001;
level (Biddle & Chatzisarantis, 1999; Biddle & Hagger et al., 2002).
Goudas, 1996; Biddle & Mutrie, 2001; Butcher & The two-component view of attitude was used as
Hall, 1983; Portman, 1995; Prochaska et al., 2003; the theoretical framework for this study. According
Schempp, Cheffers, & Zaichkowsky, 1983; Wersch to this framework, the affective component mea-
et al., 1992), while others have not found this to be sures the degree of emotional attraction or feeling
the case (Rice, 1988; Ryan, Fleming, & Maina, toward an attitude object (e.g., physical education
2003). Outcomes of research on student attitudes or physical activity), and the cognitive component
toward physical education and physical activity as a accounts for the beliefs about the characteristics of
function of gender and grade level have produced the attitude object (e.g., participation in physical
mixed findings. The mixed findings in this area education improves physical fitness). Students’
could be attributed to a lack of theory guiding beliefs about physical education influence their
instrument development for measuring student feelings toward the subject matter, which subse-
attitudes. Instruments that were not grounded in quently determines the formation of attitude (Ajzen,
attitude theory as a guiding framework could have 1993; Biddle & Chatzisarantis, 1999; Biddle &
produced such findings (Biddle & Mutrie, 2001; Mutrie, 2001; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; Gonzàlez,
Silverman & Subramaniam, 1999). 1992; Hagger et al., 2002). Operating from this
Employing attitude theory in quantitative inves- framework allows researchers to develop a better
tigations on student attitudes toward physical understanding of student attitudes. By understand-
education and physical activity is a logical first step ing that the cognitive and affective components are
in overcoming some of the issues raised in Silver- the building blocks for the formation of attitude,
man and Subramaniam’s (1999) review. Attitude researchers can focus their research efforts on
has been viewed as a single-component, two- capturing both components and their contribution
component or multi-component construct by atti- to the development of student attitudes. Only
tude researchers. Most attitude researchers in through this effort can researchers draw sound
physical education tend to view attitude as a single conclusions about student attitudes.
component. This view of attitude restricts the use of Silverman and Subramaniam (1999) found that
the term only to the affective component and, studies on student attitudes toward physical educa-
therefore, could result in measuring only part of an tion and physical activity as a function of gender
attitude (Bagozzi & Burnkrant, 1979; Mohsin, 1990; and grade level lacked the use of attitude theory as a
Oppenheim, 1992). Proponents of the two-compo- guiding framework. Most attitude researchers in
nent view posit that attitudes involve the cognitive physical education have either used the Children’s
and affective aspects (Gonzàlez, 1992; Mohsin, Attitude Toward Physical Activity (CATPA) in-
1990; Oppenheim, 1992). The multiple-component ventory (Simon & Smoll, 1974) or self-developed
view of attitude includes the cognition, affect and instruments to investigate the influence of grade
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level and gender on student attitudes toward ranging from 8 to 20 years. In School A, all grades
physical education and physical activity. In addi- (K-8) were taught by a female physical education
tion, these instruments focused on single component specialist. Two male physical education specialists
scores of attitude that were validated prior to the and one female physical education specialist taught
availability of current psychometric techniques such grades 6–8 in School B. Grades 6–8 in School C
confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation were taught by one male and one female physical
modeling, and path analysis. Using affect and education specialist. All three participating schools
cognition as two components of an attitude instru- followed a multi-activity curriculum (i.e., a variety
ment that produces reliable and valid scores allows of activities, for example, basketball, volleyball,
grade level and gender comparisons and permits floor hockey with relatively short units) prior to the
researchers to draw sound conclusions based on research and during the research.
theory. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to The selection of participants for this study was
determine middle school students’ attitudes toward based on their involvement in an earlier study
physical education using an attitude instrument (Subramaniam & Silverman, 2000). The site for
grounded in attitude theory as the guiding frame- instrument administration was selected by the
work. In addition, this investigation also sought to physical education specialists. A place that offered
ascertain the influence of gender and grade level on minimal distraction to the students when complet-
student attitudes in physical education. Specifically, ing the instrument was used as the criteria in the
the following research questions were investigated: selection process. For example, when the instrument
(a) what are the attitudes of middle school students was administered in the gymnasium, no other
toward physical education? (b) do female and male classes were using the space. Students were in-
students have similar attitudes toward physical formed that the completed questionnaire would
education? (c) do students in grades 6–8 show assist researchers and physical education teachers in
different attitudes toward the subject matter? and better understanding their thoughts and feelings
(d) is there a grade level by gender influence on about their current physical education experiences.
student attitudes in physical education at the middle All participants were assured that participation in
school level? the study had no bearing on their physical education
grade and their anonymity will be respected.
2. Method Parental and student consent were obtained for all
participants to comply with university human
2.1. Participants and settings subjects protocol. The instrument was administered
employing the same protocol in all three schools.
Participants for this study were students Participants took approximately 15–20 min to com-
(N ¼ 995) in grades 6 (12 years), 7 (13 years), and plete this task.
8 (14 years) from three middle schools in two
Midwest school districts in the United States. The 2.2. Instrumentation
sample was recruited by contacting schools to agree
in participating, therefore, it was not a random The attitude instrument (Subramaniam & Silver-
sample. The approximate percentage of participants man, 2000) designed to measure student attitudes
from each grade level was as follows: (a) Grade 6, toward physical education contained 20 items
36%; (b) Grade 7, 30%; and (c) Grade 8, 34%. Of anchored on two attitude components (affective
the total participants, 46% were female and 54% and cognitive). The affective and cognitive compo-
were male. The majority of participants were nents of attitude were labeled Enjoyment and
Caucasians (63%) followed by African-Americans Perceived Usefulness, respectively. The physical
(26%) and others (11%). Participants ranged from education teacher and curriculum were sub-domains
12 to 14 years of age. All participants underwent within each attitude component. The attitude
daily physical education for approximately instrument used a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging
40–45 min which fulfills the state requirement for from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A
physical education. Parental and student permission sample set of items from the attitude instrument is
to participate was obtained for all participants. All available in Table 1.
classes were taught by physical education specialists The validation of the instrument included an
(3 females, 3 males) with teaching experience elicitation study (n ¼ 110), a pilot study (n ¼ 33), a
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606 P.R. Subramaniam, S. Silverman / Teaching and Teacher Education 23 (2007) 602–611

Table 1 Table 2
Example set of items from the attitude instrument Overall means and standard deviations for gender and grade level

My physical education teacher gets me excited about 54321 Female Male Both
physical education
My physical education teacher makes my physical 54321 Grade 6 74.24 (16.11) 72.42 (17.37) 73.27 (16.80)
education class seem important to me 168 192 360
The games I learn in my physical education class get 54321 Grade 7 71.99 (16.29) 70.37 (16.49) 71.17 (16.39)
me excited about physical education 147 150 297
The games I learn in my physical education class 54321 Grade 8 67.08 (16.01) 68.09 (16.80) 67.66 (16.45)
seem important to me 145 193 338
All grades 71.26 (16.38) 70.28 (16.99) 70.74 (16.71)
Note: 5 ¼ strongly agree; 1 ¼ strongly disagree.
460 535 995

content validity study (n ¼ 35), and a reliability and Note: Values are means (from a possible score of 100 for overall
attitude), standard deviations, and n’s.
validity study involving 995 middle school students.
Validation of scores from the attitude instrument
demonstrated psychometric evidence of reliability When the two components of attitude (Enjoyment
and validity for the targeted population (Subrama- and Perceived Usefulness) were examined separately,
niam & Silverman, 2000). In addition, a mixed the overall values were 35.94 (s.d. ¼ 8.97) for
method approach was used to provide additional Enjoyment and 34.79 (s.d. ¼ 8.49) for Perceived
evidence of construct-related validity (Subrama- Usefulness, respectively, out of a total possible score
niam & Silverman, 2002). In this approach, both of 50. Females and males had similar scores on both
quantitative and qualitative methodologies were components of attitude. Means for Enjoyment and
used to show evidence that the scores were valid. Perceived Usefulness for females were 36.09
(s.d. ¼ 8.91) and 35.17 (s.d. ¼ 8.19), and for males
2.3. Data analysis were 35.81 (s.d. ¼ 9.01) and 34.47 (s.d. ¼ 8.74),
respectively. In addition, as grade level increased
Descriptive data analysis was conducted for each there was a decrease in mean score for the two
gender and grade level independently and collec- dimensions of attitude regardless of gender. Means
tively as well as for the two dimensions of attitude. and standard deviations for the subscales are
A multi-variate analysis of variance (MANOVA) reported in Table 3.
was used to examine attitude scores (Enjoyment and Results from the multi-variate analysis indicated
Perceived Usefulness) as the dependent variables a significant difference for grade level (Wilks’
with gender and grade level as the independent Lambda ¼ 0.975, (F(4, 1976) ¼ 6.41, po0.0001).
variables. A significant MANOVA was followed by There were no significant multi-variate differences
discriminant analysis, ANOVA, and the Student– for gender or gender by grade. Follow-up discrimi-
Newman–Kuels test to determine differences be- nant analysis indicated a significant Enjoyment
tween means (Stevens, 2002). (Wilks’ Lambda ¼ 0.975, (F(2, 992) ¼ 12.51,
po0.0001) effect. Student–Newman–Keuls test for
3. Results group differences revealed significant differences
between grade 8 (M ¼ 34.13, s.d. ¼ 8.85) and the
Overall, students had moderately positive atti- other two grades (Grade 7: M ¼ 36.15, s.d. ¼ 8.66,
tudes toward physical education (M ¼ 70:74 out of Grade 6: M ¼ 37.47, s.d. ¼ 9.01) in relation to the
a possible 100 points, s.d.¼ 16:71). Both females affective dimension of attitude.
(M ¼ 71:26, s.d.¼ 16:38) and males (M ¼ 70:28,
s.d.¼ 16:99) had moderately positive attitudes 4. Discussion
toward physical education as depicted in Table 2.
Descriptive data analysis indicated a grade level The purpose of this study was to determine
influence as shown in Table 2. As grade level middle school students’ attitudes toward physical
increased, the mean attitude score began to diminish education. In addition, this investigation also
(Grade 6: M ¼ 73:27, s.d.¼ 16:80; Grade 7: sought to ascertain the influence of gender and
M ¼ 71:17, s.d.¼ 16:39; Grade 8: M ¼ 67:66, grade level on student attitudes in physical educa-
s.d.¼ 16:45). tion. This investigation used an attitude instrument
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P.R. Subramaniam, S. Silverman / Teaching and Teacher Education 23 (2007) 602–611 607

Table 3
Means and standard deviations for gender and grade level for enjoyment and perceived usefulness

Enjoyment Perceived usefulness

Female Male Both Female Male Both

Grade 6 37.69 (8.92) 37.28 (9.16) 37.47 (9.04) 36.55 (8.03) 35.14 (9.08) 35.80 (8.62)
168 192 360 168 192 360
Grade 7 36.35 (8.59) 35.96 (8.75) 36.15 (8.66) 35.65 (8.26) 34.41 (8.35) 35.02 (8.32)
147 150 297 147 150 297
Grade 8 33.99 (8.86) 34.24 (8.87) 34.13 (8.85) 33.09 (7.94) 33.85 (8.67) 33.53 (8.36)
145 193 338 145 193 338

All grades 36.09 (8.91) 35.81 (9.01) 35.94 (8.97) 35.17 (8.19) 34.47 (8.74) 34.79 (8.49)
460 535 995 460 535 995

Note: N ¼ 995. Values are means (from a possible score of 50 for each component of attitude), standard deviations, and n’s.

grounded in attitude theory as the guiding frame- every year when teaching physical education. In
work to discern the attitudes of middle school Carlson’s study, students cited performing the same
students’ toward physical education. Student atti- games and sports as one of the contributing factors
tude was investigated based on the two-component for their lack of interest in the subject matter. Chen,
view of attitude (Enjoyment [Affect] and Perceived Darst, and Pangrazi (1999) also found novelty,
Usefulness [Cognition]). challenge, and instant enjoyment as dimensions that
Overall, descriptive statistics suggest that students constitute the extent of interest in physical activities.
had moderately positive attitudes toward physical More importantly, instant enjoyment that stems
education. Given the size of the distribution, this from the characteristics of an activity is considered a
indicated that many students have positive attitudes major component of interest. Biddle and Chatzisar-
toward physical education. It also indicates that antis (1999) found that there is a growing trend
other students have less than optimal attitudes. indicating a preference for more individual pursuits
Tannehill, Romar, O’Sullivan, England, and Rosen- than traditional team sports in physical education
berg (1994) noted a similar distribution of student curriculum to maintain student interest.
attitudes. They, however, used a one-component Another explanation for this grade level differ-
view of attitude. Understanding what influences ence in relation to enjoyment could possibly be
attitudes require an examination of the components related to differences in perception of enjoyment.
of attitude and how these differ among students. Students in grade 8 may perceive enjoyment
As grade level increased there was a decline in the differently than students in grades 6 and 7 in
affective component of attitude. This finding con- physical education. This could partly be attributed
curs with results from other studies that have to the developmental differences (cognitive and
investigated student attitude in relation to age social–emotional) among these groups (Gallahue,
(Biddle & Chatzisarantis, 1999; Biddle & Goudas 1996; Graham et al., 2004; Magill, 1993). Physical
1996; Biddle & Mutrie, 2001; Butcher & Hall, 1983; education teachers who assume that the same types
Portman, 1995; Prochaska et al., 2003; Schempp et of games and activities bring similar levels of
al., 1983; Wersch et al., 1992). Students in grade 8 enjoyment to students regardless of grade level
experienced less enjoyment in relation to students in may need to rethink their curriculum. Students at
grades 6 and 7. One plausible explanation for this is the upper grade level need to be provided with
the repetition of the same activities every year in the activities that arouse their intention to explore
physical education curriculum. By the time students (Chen et al., 1999). For example, activities with
move to grade 8, the lack of interest due to the different cognitive and physical demands or activ-
repetitive nature of activities is compounded, and a ities that require students to analyze skill or design
subsequent decline in the affective component of offensive and defensive strategies in game play may
attitude occurs. Carlson (1995) also found students present different situational interest for students
becoming bored as a result of a lack of challenge (Chen & Darst, 2001). What this entails is breaking
when teachers use the same activities and sports away from the traditional multi-activity curriculum
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608 P.R. Subramaniam, S. Silverman / Teaching and Teacher Education 23 (2007) 602–611

and adding novelty as a key element in the selection The Sport Education model (Siedentop, 1994) fits
and design of physical activities to sustain enjoy- in well here by allowing students to design and
ment. Siedentop (2004) also argues that the im- conduct sport tournaments through team member-
plementation of a multi-activity curriculum with a ship and responsibility. When students take respon-
series of short-term units covering a wide variety of sibility for leading tournaments and for other
activities to be a major cause influencing students’ decisions, they may develop ownership and a
attitudes toward participating in physical education. greater sense of empowerment not just for the
In essence, this curriculum lessens students’ oppor- particular sport, but for other essential roles in sport
tunities to master any one activity in such a short and different kinds of satisfaction in sport partici-
time period. Students, therefore, do not get to pation. This becomes particularly important at the
master the skills, knowledge, and attitudes neces- higher grades. When students at this level are able to
sary to fully engage in such activities. take personal meaning from their experiences in
Enjoyment of physical education, as indicated by physical education, the cognitive component of
the results, was clearly a major indicator of student attitude indirectly activates the affective component
attitudes toward the subject matter regardless of of attitude as well. The variance from the affective
gender. Berger and McInman (1993) also suggested and cognitive components collectively impacts
that enjoyment plays an important role in increasing student attitude (Gonzàlez, 1992; Mohsin, 1990;
physical activity adherence and positive attitudes. Oppenheim, 1992).
This does not preclude physical education teachers From a health perspective, the decline in the
from influencing the cognitive component of atti- affective component of attitude as grade level
tude. Creating a learning environment that pro- increases is worrisome. Middle school students
motes personal meaning (Carlson, 1995; Chen, who do not enjoy physical education and physical
1998; Mitchell, 1993; Rink, 2002) is as important activity as they grow older may end up being
to the overall development of attitude. According to physically inactive. In order to reverse this trend,
Mitchell (1993), when teachers create an environ- physical education teachers at the middle schools
ment high in situational interest, an individual’s may need to pay closer attention to the affective
personal interest and learning can be positively component of attitude and find ways to nurture it in
affected. Hagger et al. (2002) also mention that their physical education programs. As results from
creating an environment in which a person feels this study indicate that middle school students
comfortable and confident will enhance positive (females and males) have similar attitudes, it may
attitudes. With the enhancement of positive atti- not be a difficult task to foster the development of
tudes, teachers can then find different ways to the affective component of attitude in physical
stimulate and empower students to be more engaged education. The provision of alternative curriculum
in physical activity. For this to happen, teachers models besides multi-activity models have been
need to catch interest and hold interest. The essence shown to increase student enjoyment toward
of catching interest lies in finding different ways to physical education and physical activity. The Sport
stimulate students, whereas the essence of holding Education model (Siedentop, 1994) as noted earlier,
interest lies in finding variables that empower may influence attitude in classes where learning
students. In other words, conditions that simply sport is the focus. Studies conducted in different
trigger interest but fail to maintain student engage- parts of the world using this model have reported
ment are catch facets. The hold facet, on the other increased student enjoyment of physical education
hand, pertains to conditions that make content and physical activity for both female and male
personally meaningful to students, and the degree to students (Carlson & Hastie, 1997; Grant, Tredin-
which students feel they are active participants in nick, & Hodge, 1992; Hastie & Carlson, 1998;
the learning process (Mitchell, 1993). For example, MacPhail, Kirk, & Kinchin, 2004).
teachers could use the discovery/problem solving Multi-variate analysis indicated that there were
approaches through tasks such as requiring plan- no gender or gender by grade differences for this
ning for improved strategy, or in reviewing video- population. Other studies on student attitude
tapes of their performance and planning ways to (Biddle, 1999; Birtwhistle & Brodie, 1991; Chung
improve it. In addition, teachers could also intro- & Phillips, 2002; Colley et al., 1994; Folsom-Meek,
duce opportunities for decision-making, and taking 1992; Greenwood & Stillwell, 2001; Hicks et al.,
responsibility for activity. 2001; Luke & Sinclair, 1991; Smoll & Schutz, 1980;
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
P.R. Subramaniam, S. Silverman / Teaching and Teacher Education 23 (2007) 602–611 609

Wersch et al., 1992) have reported gender to be an and researchers. In order to fully understand
influencing variable on attitude. The theoretical student attitudes toward physical education, student
underpinning guiding this attitude instrument may beliefs (cognitive) and feelings (affect) should be
have produced this result. Without operating from factored into the equation. This multi-dimensional
this framework, it would be fallacious to assume that view of attitude allows both practitioners and
the construct of attitude has truly been captured. The researchers to create learning environments that
collective impact of the cognitive and the affective would help nurture and enhance student learning.
components of attitude is a critical factor in When students feel comfortable and believe they are
investigating attitude. This finding is particularly competent as a direct result of the creation of a
valuable for teachers and teacher educators because positive learning environment, optimal student
focusing on or neglecting the cognitive and affective learning will occur. On the other hand, if the
components of attitude could bring about different cognitive and affective components of attitude are
results in terms of student attitudes. Most teachers negatively impacted in the learning environment,
and teacher educators rely on student beliefs (cogni- students’ attitudes may manifest in students dislik-
tive) or feelings (affect) as an indicator of student ing or unwilling to participate in physical activity.
attitude. Judging students’ attitudes based on a single Students’ attitudes toward physical education
component may not accurately predict the construct. declined as a function of grade level in this study.
The cognitive and affective components collectively This happens to be the general trend in attitude
impact student intention. Hagger et al. (2002) provide research. Practitioners and researchers need to find
empirical evidence to support the key role attitude practical ways to help students at the upper grades
plays in forming intentions. It is only through the to stay more engaged in physical activity by
formation of intentions through attitudes that allows stimulating and empowering them. Physical activ-
the prediction of behavior. It would serve teachers ities that students engage in during physical educa-
and teacher educators well to understand the role the tion should be personally meaningful and students
cognitive and affective components of attitude play in should feel as active participants in the learning
understanding overall student attitudes and inten- process. It is through this active and meaningful
tions (Biddle & Mutrie, 2001). Future research needs engagement that we can prepare adolescents for
to examine attitude as a multi-dimensional construct participation in physical activity for a lifetime.
in order to confirm this finding.
The extent to which the cognitive and affective
components of attitude are enhanced in physical References
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