Analysis of Students’ Attitudes Toward Physical Education and Their Preferences of Sports and Activities

Abstract

Identifying students' perspectives on PE can help PE teachers plan a practical PE class and allow education organizations to design PE programs that meet students' needs. This study examined students' attitudes toward physical education and their preferences of sports and activities. Students' attitudes were measured by using a student attitudes toward PE survey and sports and activities preferences questionnaire. Participants were one hundred total male students at the middle and high school level and their ages ranged between 11-19 years old. Descriptive statistics and Mann-U-whinny tests were conducted to measure both the students’ demographic information and the differences between middle and high school attitudes toward PE and their performances of sports and activities. The results showed that middle school students had a more positive attitude toward PE than high school students. Additionally, participation in physical activities outside the school positively affected students' attitudes toward PE. Lastly, students preferred different sports and activities; however, both groups had a neutral attitude toward dual sports.