Atitudes toward physical education and class preferences of Turkish secondary and high school students

The aims of this study was to investigate attitudes toward physical education and class preferences of Turkish secondary and high school students related to gender and age. The participants were 302 female (Mage = 13.11 ± 0.79) and 332 male (Mage = 13.14 ± 0.69) students from secondary school education aged 12 to 14 and 290 female (Mage = 16.48 ± 0.86) and 316 male (Mage = 16.42 ± 0.90) student from high school aged 15 to 17. A total of 1240 students voluntarily participated in this study. The Attitudes Toward Physical Education Scale (ATPES) was applied. ANOVA was used to determine differences in attitude toward PE between students from secondary and high schools and between girls and boys. In order to test differences in PE class preferences of students with regard to school context and gender, chi square analysis was conducted. Men scores of ATPES for secondary school and high school girl and boy students were determined 3.95 point, 4.01 point, 3.40 point and 3.77 point, respectively. Generally of secondary school students (%66.6) preferred coed physical education class, while generally of high school students (%69) preferred single-sex physical education class. This research verifies that attitudes towards physical education and PE class preferences change according to gender and age. SUMMARY Purpose and significance: The aims of this study was to investigate attitudes toward physical education and class preferences in Turkish secondary and high school students related to gender and age. In spite of the growth in the studies on the effectiveness of PE, sport science literature that have investigated students' attitudes toward PE and on PE class preferences according to age and gender are limited. Methods: The study was conducted during the 2006-2007 fall semester. Participants consisted of 1240 students from seven secondary and six high general schools of Bursa/Turkey. In this study, coeducational secondary and high schools were selected. The participants were 302 girls (Mage = 13.11 ± 0.79) and 332 boys (Mage = 13.14 ± 0.69) aged 12 to 14 from secondary education schools and 290 girls (Mage = 16.48 ± 0.86) and 316 boys (Mage = 16.42 ± 0.90) aged 15 to 17 from high schools. Two data collection instruments were administered. In the first section of the first personnel information, participants provide demographic related information such as age, grade, and gender. In the second section participants were asked: "Which PE class do you prefer? Coed PE or Single sex PE. " The second instrument is the Attitude Toward PE Scale for Turkish students. Results: Findings of this study indicated a significant gender difference in high school students attitudes toward PE (F = 29.361; p 0.05 . The attitude scores of secondary school boys and girls respectively was (M = 4.01) and (M = 3.95). In addition, the attitude scores of secondary school boys (M = 4.01) were significantly higher (F = 26.245; p<0.05) than those of high school boys (M = 3.77), and the attitude scores of secondary school girls (M = 3.95) were significantly higher (F = 33.752; p<0.05) than those of high school girls (M = 3.40). In order to test differences in PE class preferences of students with regard to school context and gender, chi square analysis was conducted. Significant differences in PE class preferences were found between students from secondary and high schools (E 2 = 62.634; p <0.05). Most of the students from secondary schools (66.6%) preferred single-sex PE, whereas nearly most of the students from high schools (69%) preferred coed PE. Discussion and Conclusions: This research verifies that attitudes towards physical education and PE class preferences change according to gender and age. Secondary school students show more positive attitudes towards physical education than high school students. Boys show more positive attitudes than girls. In addition secondary school students preferred single-sex PE, whereas high school students preferred coed PE. In order to improve the attitudes of girls towards physical education, Ministry of National Education have to make some changes in physical education course curriculum. This change has to be from competitive physical education course model to a model that encompasses life-time sport, health, physical fitness, and well-being. Physical education course curriculums should be re-arranged to enable students to obtain necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes for a healthy and happy daily life. Moreover, all students must have the confidence and skills to continue physical activities in their future lives.