Alternative Teaching Approaches to Promote Student Motivation in Physical Education at the Secondary Level

Abstract

The purpose of this synthesis was to examine the existing body of literature on alternative teaching approaches in physical education and their relationship to student motivation at the high school level. The self-determination theory was used throughout the critical mass of articles as a guide to measure student motivation levels. Themes were organized by varying teaching approaches used within each study. Prevalent research focused on the sport education model (SEM) as a major alternative teaching model that was useful when measuring student motivation. To provide concrete findings, more research needs to be conducted in regards to other alternative teaching styles in connection to student motivation in physical education. Specifically, future research should examine alternative teaching approaches that are “less-direct” to see if there is a correlation between student involvement and student motivation to participate. Keywords: [increased student motivation, autonomy, amotivation, student participation, teaching styles or methods, pedagogy or teaching or learning, self-determination theory, sport education model, teaching games for understanding, and constraints-led approach]