| The purpose of this study was to identify factors that impact attitude and interest in middle school students for physical education. Factors to be analyzed for this study were attitudes of middle school students towards physical education, student's satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the physical education curriculum, and the effect of the physical education teacher on student attitudes towards physical education class. In order to analyze these factors a survey was administered to learn how these factors affect student attitudes. Additionally, to add depth to the data from the surveys, interviews were conducted.; This study of attitudes and interest in middle school students for physical education is an important addition to the pedagogy literature. To this date very little research has been done in this context. Many studies that have investigated student attitudes have mainly looked at either high school or elementary school aged students. The lack of information regarding middle school students' offers an opportunity to add to the literature regarding student attitude and interest in physical education.; A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was employed for this study in an attempt to provide a fuller description of what factors affect middle school students' attitudes in physical education. Quantitative data were collected via the Physical Education Interest Questionnaire (PEIQ). Data were gathered through interviews with 28 students (14 students with positive attitudes towards physical education and 14 students with negative attitudes towards physical education).; The results of this study identified that middle school students have positive attitudes towards physical education, that the students like and enjoy the curriculum they participate in, thus resulting in positive attitudes towards physical education, and that the teacher positively affected student attitudes towards physical education. Additionally, the interviews provided important information regarding these factors why the students had positive attitudes towards physical education. |
