| The purpose of this study was to identify relationships between teacher practices and motivational research on female adolescent participation in physical education. The formulation of this study grew from a desire to understand how physical education teachers think about and apply research and strategies for motivating adolescent girls.; The researcher used a mixed methods design and collected data through online teacher questionnaires (n = 144), teacher interviews (n = 20), and teacher observations (n = 40) from a representative sample of teachers from southeastern Pennsylvania. Demographic items were used to create a descriptive profile of the teachers. Relationships were found among three categorical scales (familiarity scale, use of strategies scale, student motivation scale) and a motivational interest item. Of these relationships, only one showed practical significance: the more familiar teachers were with current motivation research and theories, the more strategies they used in their physical education classes.; The categorical scales were also used to find relationships among the demographic items. Generally, the correlations between the three categorical scales and demographics were not strong enough to warrant conclusions about relationships. In addition, correlations were calculated to find relationships between each demographic item and Likert-scale items. Of these comparisons, none were strong but 15 were statistically significant (p < .05).; Eight major themes emerged from the analysis of the qualitative data: co-education versus same-sex class organization, perceived barriers to active participation, teacher behaviors, opportunities for choice, teachers' use of strategies, extrinsic versus intrinsic motivational techniques, grading implications, and uniform requirements. Several sub-themes stemmed from each of the eight major themes.; From the results of the study, four conclusions were drawn: (a) many adolescent girls need to be motivated to participate actively in physical education, (b) adolescent girls perceive multiple barriers to active participation in physical education, (c) physical education teachers could benefit from professional development specific to current motivational research and theory, (d) four specific factors that appear important to the motivation of adolescent girls to participate actively in physical education are same-sex classes, rapport and personal connections between teacher and students, opportunities for girls to make choices, and grading systems. |
