To move more but sit less: The roles of students’ attitudes and knowledge

Abstract

An important goal of physical education (PE) is to educate children to become physically literate and active of their own accord. This study capitalized on examining the roles of students’ attitudes toward PE and physical activity and fitness (PAF) knowledge in physical activity and sedentary behavior participation. Students from a public middle school in a Midwestern state in the United States of America responded to two surveys. One survey consisted of demographic and PAF knowledge questions for middle school students, and the other survey included the Attitude Toward Physical Education Questionnaire and the Youth Activity Profile. Structural equation models showed that perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness, as affective and cognitive dimensions of attitude toward PE respectively, demonstrated small effects on physical activity and sedentary behavior, while perceived enjoyment further showed a moderate effect on PAF knowledge, after controlling for gender and grade. These findings indicate the need to deliberately foster students’ positive attitudes toward PE in middle school years. It is argued that future pedagogy research on youth physical activity should also include sedentary behavior as a focal variable.

Keywords

Learning PE metrics physical activity sedentary behavior

Introduction

Physical inactivity is a major public health concern, with 92% of the adolescents in the United States of America aged between 12 and 19 failing to engage in 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day (Troiano et al., 2008). Concomitant with inadequate physical activity is the high prevalence of sedentary behavior, with an average of 8.6 hours or six to eight hours per day (approximately 60% of waking time) being sedentary for Canadian or US children and adolescents, respectively (Pate et al., 2011; Tremblay et al., 2011), giving rise to detrimental effects on health and academic outcomes (Bai et al., 2016; de Rezende et al., 2014; Saunders et al., 2014; Whitaker et al., 2017). The need to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior worldwide, particularly in the youth population, is clear (British Heart Foundation, 2017; US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013; UK Department of Health, 2011; World Health Organization, 2017). Physical Education (PE) is the main setting in the school context where children have the opportunity to be physically active and build competence (e.g. knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes) needed for lifetime participation in physical activity (Bassett et al., 2013; Chen and Gu, 2017; Chen et al., 2017; Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America), 2014). Middle school years (typically sixth through eighth grades) represent a critical time period in human development for active-living education, as physical activity levels decline to the borderline of 60 minutes per day, a problem that requires intentional countering efforts (Nader et al., 2008). The objective of the present study was to examine the physical activity and sedentary behavior of middle school students in relation to their attitudes toward PE and knowledge learned in PE.

An important goal of school PE in the USA is to educate K-12 students to become physically literate and thus equipped with sufficient skills, knowledge and positive attitudes towards physical activity and fitness (Ennis, 2010, 2017; SHAPE America, 2014). PE classes also offer an opportunity for school-aged youth to move more but sit less (da Costa et al., 2017). In recent years, promotion of physical activity has taken center stage in the USA as an instructional focus in PE programmes; furthermore, promoting MVPA does not have to be at the cost of attaining other learning objectives such as enriching knowledge associated with physical activity or fitness (Chen et al., 2007; Chen et al., 2016). In addition, it was reported in recent research that students displayed excessive sitting behaviors in spite of meeting the physical activity guidelines, showing the need to address physical activity and sedentary behavior simultaneously (Bai et al., 2016). Here, ‘sedentary behavior’ refers to any waking behavior characterized by energy expenditure ≤1.5 Metabolic Equivalent of Tasks (METs) while in a sitting or reclining posture (Barnes et al., 2012). The detrimental effect of sedentary behavior on health is documented in the literature (Bai et al., 2016; Owen et al., 2011), and prolonged sitting should be discouraged (e.g. avoidance of long bouts of sitting and interruption of sitting time) (Chen et al., 2017; Owen et al., 2011). Sitting or standing behaviors are easily observable in PE classes – for instance, during instruction, class management and task transition, or when students’ off-task behaviors are left unmanaged. Mitigating sedentary behavior requires the PE teacher to provide deliberative pedagogical attention and, perhaps, a set of instructional strategies different to those used to promote physical activity (Chen et al., 2017; Sallis et al., 2012). For example, Chen et al. (2017) demonstrated that middle school students’ knowledge of physical activity and fitness is a significant predictor of sedentary behavior but not of physical activity, after controlling for individual- and school-level variables. This study simultaneously examined physical activity and sedentary behavior in relation to knowledge, highlighting the importance of minimizing unnecessary sitting and standing behaviors through purposeful PE instructions (Chen et al., 2017). It also identified knowledge of physical activity and fitness as a meaningful focal variable to reduce sedentary behavior in middle school students (Chen et al., 2017). More research evidence is needed to ascertain the association between relevant knowledge and behaviors associated with physical activity and sedentary behavior.

PE is potentially a primary means by which students acquire a good ‘understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to the learning and performance of physical activities’ (National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), 2004). According to national PE standards in the USA (SHAPE America, 2014), three learning domains – psychomotor (e.g. physical activity, fitness), cognitive (e.g. knowledge), and affective (e.g. attitude) – are targeted for K-12 grade level outcomes. Evidence is available, albeit limited, to provide insights into how those PE-based learning outcomes may interact together, especially regarding how attitudes and knowledge may influence students’ behavioral outcomes in PE. Chen and Nam (2017), in their review, highlighted health-related knowledge as a significant correlate of physical activity, which should be emphasized in the PE curriculum. Consistent evidence further confirmed that a deficiency of knowledge about physical activity, fitness, exercise, and energy balance exists in students of all age groups (Chen and Nam, 2017; Keating et al., 2009). For the above two reasons, high quality PE instruction is purported to enhance students’ health-related fitness knowledge as both a means to becoming physically active and fit as well as an end for the cognitive domain of learning. In addition to increasing students’ relevant knowledge, high quality PE classes also present an instrumental platform for students to construct a positive attitude toward PE in particular and even toward physical activity experiences overall (Silverman, 2017). The attitude toward PE is conceptualized to include two constructs: ‘perceived enjoyment’ and ‘usefulness’, representing respectively the affective and cognitive dimensions of attitude (Subramaniam and Silverman, 2000, 2007). From the perspective of attitude, it is important for the learners to perceive the PE experiences as enjoyable/interesting and useful. Overall, students in middle school grades tend to have a positive attitude toward PE (Subramaniam and Silverman, 2007; Stelzer et al., 2004) with boys showing a more desirable attitude than girls (Aktop, 2010; Koca and Demirhan, 2004; Stelzer et al., 2004). Unfortunately, positive attitudes toward PE decline with age, with younger students showing a more positive attitude than older ones (Subramaniam and Silverman, 2000, 2007). Research on students’ attitude toward PE has shown that attitude is positively associated with leisure-time exercise behavior (Chung and Phillips, 2002), physical activity participation (Sallis et al., 2000; Zeng et al., 2011), and cardiorespiratory endurance (Kaj et al., 2015). Conversely, negative perceptions in PE classes were found to attenuate physical activity participation after school (Chen and Chen, 2012). Additional research findings based on different but relevant theoretical lenses such as the situational interest theory and the expectancy–value theory support the positive association of perceived enjoyment and usefulness with physical activity in secondary school populations (Chen and Chen, 2012; Chen and Wang, 2017; Gu et al., 2014; Shen and Chen, 2006). However, despite the use of similar terms, perceived enjoyment as a construct of attitude toward PE has subtle differences from situational interest and its constructs (e.g. instant enjoyment), whereas perceived usefulness as an attitude construct is conceptualized somewhat differently from the utility value construct within the expectancy–value theory (Chen and Chen, 2012; Chen and Wang, 2017; Silverman, 2017). As far as we are aware, no research has examined the association between students’ attitudes toward PE and sedentary behavior.

As articulated above, the PE curriculum and instruction should address both MVPA and sedentary behavior (Chen et al., 2014; Chen et al., 2017). As a correlate of physical activity (and sedentary behavior), knowledge about physical activity and fitness (‘PAF knowledge’) appears to be an important learning content area in PE classes (Chen and Nam, 2017; Keating et al., 2009). The literature also suggests that attitude toward PE may be a key factor underlying learners’ motivation for learning and physical activity behaviors (Chung and Phillips, 2002; Kaj et al., 2015; Sallis et al., 2000; Zeng et al., 2011). However, there appears to be no published research which simultaneously examines the associations among attitude toward PE, PAF knowledge, physical activity and sedentary behavior in middle school students. The purpose of the study, therefore, was to address this research gap by examining the roles of students’ attitudes toward PE and PAF knowledge in physical activity promotion among boys and girls in middle school years (sixth, seventh, and eighth grades). It was hypothesized that attitude toward PE and PAF knowledge would significantly predict physical activity (positively) and sedentary behavior (negatively), and that attitudes toward PE would significantly predict PAF knowledge. It is argued that the findings from this study may advance current understanding about the roles of achievement motivation (i.e. from the perspective of attitude toward PE) and knowledge competence (i.e. PAF knowledge) in eliciting more physical activity and less sedentary behavior among adolescents.

Methodology

Setting and participants

Data for this study were collected from a public middle school located in a small town in a Midwestern state in the USA. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the school’s location was officially defined as in the ‘fringe town’ region (code: 31) (see: http://www.nces.ed.gov). The school had 571 enrolled students (fifth to eighth grades) at the time of this study, the majority of whom (85.6%) were non-Hispanic White, with relatively even numbers of boys and girls. Three certified PE specialists, who also held coaching certificates and two of whom also held official health education endorsements, taught the PE classes at the school. The PE teaching facility included a regular multi-purpose gymnasium, a matted wrestling room, a well-equipped weight room, and a 400-meter outdoor track. The teachers followed a multi-activity PE curriculum that offered short units of assorted physical activities (e.g. sports, fitness, games, etc.). The final sample consisted of 397 students (response rate = 97.54%; boys: n = 193, 48.6%, girls: n = 204, 51.4%; age: M/SD = 12.76/.94) from all five sixth grade classes (n = 123), six seventh grade classes (n = 140), and six eighth grade classes (n = 134) in the school. Informed parental consent and student assent were waived by the university IRB and district office and therefore were not sought because the data collected were anonymous. The Institutional Review Board of the lead author’s university and the school district approved the protocol of this study.

Variables and measures

Attitude toward PE and attitude components

The Attitude Toward Physical Education Questionnaire for middle school students was used to measure the students’ attitudes toward PE (Subramaniam and Silverman, 2000). The instrument contains 20 questions with 10 items capturing the affective component of attitude labeled as ‘perceived enjoyment’ and the other 10 capturing the cognitive component of attitude labeled as ‘perceived usefulness’. All of the items used a five-point Likert-type scale for responses ranging from 1 (‘strongly disagree’) to 5 (‘strongly agree’). For example, one question asking about students’ perceived usefulness is phrased as ‘The games I learn in my physical education class seem important to me’. The questionnaire was previously validated using middle school samples (Subramaniam and Silverman, 2000, 2007).

PAF knowledge

The standardized written test for eighth grade from the PE Metrics battery (NASPE, 2011) was used to assess students’ levels of PAF knowledge. The written test includes 29 multiple-choice questions with four possible choices (A, B, C, and D) and was previously validated using the Rasch Model analysis. The students’ responses to the knowledge test were scored as 1 (‘correct’) or 0 (zero) (‘incorrect’) following the answer key. The percentage correct score for each participant was computed by dividing the sum score by the number of test items. We examined knowledge achievement according to gross PAF knowledge and actual PAF knowledge separately, because students of higher grades had more exposure to this knowledge coverage in PE and health classes. Gross PAF knowledge was based on students’ responses to all 29 items, but actual PAF knowledge was computed based on test items on which students had previous content exposure, as reported by the three PE teachers at the school. These test items captured nine performance descriptors related to PAF (NASPE, 2011):

Participate in physical activities (four items).

Demonstrate self-management skills (two items).

Participate in fitness activities (three items).

Evaluate level of physical activity (one item).

Achieve fitness standards (two items).

Apply principles of fitness training (six items).

Assess physiological indicators of exercise (five items).

Describe the relationship of health-related fitness components (three items).

Apply principles of conditioning that enhance performance (three items).

For example, one question capturing students’ knowledge about the first performance descriptor is phrased as: ‘Mary performs stretching exercises and runs most days of the week to be able to increase her____’, with ‘Flexibility and aerobic endurance’ being the correct answer.

Physical activity and sedentary behavior

The Youth Activity Profile (YAP) was used to measure students’ physical activity and sedentary behavior. The YAP has 15 questions with five items in each dimension capturing physical activity at school (PAS), physical activity at home (PAAH), and sedentary behavior, respectively. The questionnaire was previously validated with a middle school student sample and can produce highly accurate group-level estimates of time spent in physical activity and sedentary behavior (Saint-Maurice and Welk, 2015). One item measuring sedentary behavior is worded thus: ‘How much time did you spend watching TV outside of school time (this includes time spent watching movies or sports but NOT time spent playing video games)?’. There were no correct or incorrect answers to these questions; rather, the students were prompted to circle a choice reflecting their actual behavior, ranging from (a) ‘I didn’t really watch TV at all’ to (e) ‘I watched more than three hours per day’.

Procedures

Two surveys with questions concerning students’ demographic background (e.g. date of birth, grade, gender, and race/ethnicity), attitudes toward PE, PAF knowledge, and physical activity and sedentary behavior were made available through Qualtrics (Provo, UT, USA) to all sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classes in the participating school. To minimize interruption to the school’s regular PE schedules, and maximize data quality, the surveys were administered on two separate days with an interval of less than one week. Each survey took on average approximately 20 minutes to complete, and the students participated in active PE tasks during the remaining 20–25 minutes of each lesson. Two weeks prior to the first test day, the two http://Qualtrics.com links, together with instructions, were emailed to the PE teachers. On the test days, the PE teachers administered these surveys to the students at the school’s media center, with assistance from trained data collectors. The students entered their lunch identification number (not identifiable by the researchers) on each survey so that data collected from the two surveys could be matched at the individual level. Survey data were automatically saved online after completed surveys were submitted. One week after data collection, data were downloaded from http://Qualtrics.com to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, which was saved on a password-protected data processing computer. Data cases with more than 50% items lacking responses, and/or five consecutive items lacking responses, were removed using the list-wise deletion method.

Data analyses

Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to describe the sample (i.e. frequency and percentage scores for the overall sample, by gender, grade, and race/ethnicity) and distribution of the key variables (i.e. mean and standard deviation) including attitudes toward PE, PAF knowledge, physical activity, and sedentary behavior). Group differences (i.e. gender and grade) in these key variables were analyzed using inferential statistical analyses (analysis of variance or Welch statistics). Assumptions of normality and homogenous variance were tested prior to inferential analyses. Observations that were beyond ±3 standard deviations were removed as outliers. The missing value was minimal (<5%), and thus the list-wise deletion method was used for ANOVA or Welch analysis. In addition, Pearson Moment Product Correlational analysis was conducted to explore the associations among attitudes toward PE (i.e. enjoyment, usefulness, and overall attitude), PAF knowledge (gross knowledge score and actual knowledge score), physical activity (at school, at home, and overall), and sedentary behavior. These statistical analyses were conducted in SPSS 24 (p < 0.05).

Thereafter, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to test the associations between attitudes toward PE, PAF knowledge, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Because most of the previous research typically used perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness as observed variables (aggregated means of the respective 10 questions) to differentiate the affective and cognitive dimensions of attitude (Subramaniam and Silverman, 2000), our SEM model tested the paths from perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness to knowledge and behavior. In addition, we noticed in prior research, as well as from our analysis, that there were significant gender and grade differences in attitude toward PE (Aktop, 2010; Hunuk and Demirhan, 2010; Koca and Demirhan, 2004; Stelzer et al., 2004; Subramaniam and Silverman, 2007): gender and grade were therefore controlled in the SEM analysis. We used the following statistical indices to examine the goodness or badness of the models: χ ² goodness-of-fit test (χ ²/df < 5.0); comparative fit index (CFI ≥ 0.95); Tucker-Lewis index (TLI ≥ 0.95), and root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA < 0.08) (Hooper et al., 2008). Standardized estimates for factor loadings (λ), gamma coefficients (γ), and beta coefficients (β) were obtained from statistical modeling. R² values were reported for the endogenous variables as estimates of variance explained in the models. All SEM analyses were based on the maximum-likelihood estimation and operated in AMOS 20.

Results

The Attitude Toward PE Questionnaire showed acceptable internal consistency reliability in the present sample (enjoyment: Cronbach’s α = 0.89; usefulness: Cronbach’s α = 0.86). Table 1 shows the descriptive results for the key variables. All variables showed absolute skewness values smaller than one (ranging from –0.03 for PAS to –0.07 for PAAH) and absolute kurtosis values (ranging from –0.08 for enjoyment to 0.96 for sedentary behavior), with the exception of physical activity overall (PAO), which had a kurtosis value of 1.59. This set of results indicates that the variables typically demonstrated normal distribution. The test of homogeneous variances showed that all variables except sedentary behavior (p = 0.02), gross PAF knowledge (p < 0.01), and actual PAF knowledge (p < 0.01) had equal variances by gender. Boys had significantly more positive attitudes than girls toward PE (enjoyment, usefulness, and total attitude), higher physical activity and gross PAF knowledge (p < 0.01), but similar levels to girls of sedentary behavior (p = 0.24) and actual PAF knowledge (p = 0.25).

Table 1.

Descriptive results of the variables by gender and grade.

Variables	Boys		Girls		Sixth Grade		Seventh Grade		Eighth Grade
Variables	n	M (SD)	n	M (SD)	n	M (SD)	n	M (SD)	n	M (SD)
Enjoyment	147	3.83 (0.67)	164	3.55 (0.69)	88	3.82 (0.59)	117	3.72 (0.69)	109	3.53 (0.75)
Usefulness	147	3.65 (0.68)	158	3.46 (0.66)	90	3.68 (0.61)	112	3.58 (0.68)	107	3.41 (0.70)
Attitude	143	3.75 (0.65)	154	3.52 (0.66)	87	3.76 (0.56)	109	3.67 (0.67)	104	3.47 (0.71)
PAS	156	3.43 (1.00)	172	3.17 (0.95)	93	3.12 (0.99)	122	3.35 (1.02)	117	3.39 (0.92)
PAAH	156	3.59 (0.98)	172	3.43 (1.00)	93	3.48 (1.10)	122	3.57 (1.01)	117	3.45 (0.90)
PAO	156	3.51 (0.82)	172	3.30 (0.83)	93	3.30 (0.91)	122	3.46 (0.85)	117	3.42 (0.73)
SB	156	2.46 (0.70)	172	2.55 (0.81)	93	2.21 (0.74)	122	2.58 (0.81)	117	2.69 (0.70)
Gross K	186	0.48 (0.18)	198	0.52 (0.15)	119	0.51 (0.15)	139	0.54 (0.16)	130	0.46 (0.18)
Actual K	153	0.54 (0.19)	177	0.56 (0.15)	104	0.58 (0.16)	124	0.57 (0.15)	104	0.50 (0.19)

Note: PAS = physical activity at school; PAAH = physical activity at home; PAO = physical activity overall; SB = sedentary behavior; Gross K = gross knowledge; Actual K = actual knowledge.

All variables except enjoyment (p < 0.01), attitude (p < 0.01), gross PAF knowledge (p = 0.03), and actual PAF knowledge (p < 0.01) showed equal variances by grade. There were significant grade differences for enjoyment (p < 0.05), usefulness (p = 0.02), attitude (p < 0.01), gross PAF knowledge (p < 0.01), actual PAF knowledge (p < 0.01), and sedentary behavior (p < 0.01).

Pearson correlation analysis (see Table 2) showed that physical activity and sedentary behavior were significantly correlated with attitude toward PE and its sub-constructs (enjoyment and usefulness). Sedentary behavior was negatively correlated with physical activity at school and at home. Knowledge was significantly associated with perceived enjoyment but not with perceived usefulness.

Table 2.

Pearson correlation matrix of the variables.

Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Enjoyment
2. Usefulness	0.87**
3. Attitude	0.97**	0.97**
4. PAS	0.20**	0.17**	0.20**
5. PAAH	0.27**	0.25**	0.26**	0.41**
6. PAO	0.28**	0.25**	0.28**	0.84**	0.84**
7. SB	–0.21**	–0.17**	–0.20**	–0.11*	–0.12*	–0.01
8. Gross K	0.13*	0.08	0.10	–0.04	0.07	0.02	–0.01
9. Actual K	0.12*	0.06	0.09	–0.04	0.08	0.02	–0.07	0.93

Note: PAS = physical activity at school; PAAH = physical activity at home; PAO = physical activity overall; SB = sedentary behavior; Gross K = gross knowledge; Actual K = actual knowledge. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.

The initial SEM results for the hypothesized model showed a relatively well-fitting model (χ²= 28.77, df = 10, p < 0.01; χ²/df = 2.88; CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.88; RMSEA = 0.07). It is to be noted that the χ²test is sensitive to sample size, but χ²/df was within the acceptable range (Kline, 2010). The TLI value was slightly smaller than 0.90, while other fit indices were acceptable. To improve the model fit indices further, we removed two paths whose magnitudes were close to zero and statistically non-significant (i.e. paths from gross knowledge to sedentary behavior and to physical activity). Figure 1 presents the results for the reduced, final model, which indeed showed improved model fit indices (= 28.87 df = 12, p < 0.01; χ²/df = 2.41; CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.91; RMSEA = 0.06). As Figure 1 shows, perceived enjoyment exhibited a significant moderate effect on gross PAF knowledge (γ = 0.31), but a small effect on physical activity (γ = 0.24), and sedentary behavior (γ = –0.23). Perceived usefulness also exhibited a small effect on physical activity (γ = 0.12) and sedentary behavior (γ = 0.07), but no effect on knowledge. The error terms ranged from 0.03 for e2 (unexplained variances for sedentary behavior) to 0.60 for e5 (unexplained variances for PAAH). In total, the amount of variances explained by the model for knowledge, sedentary behavior, and physical activity were 6%, 3%, and 13%, respectively.

Figure 1.

Final structural equation model (non-significant paths from gross knowledge to sedentary behavior and to physical activity participation were removed).

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to examine the roles of attitudes toward PE and PAF knowledge in the promotion of physical activity among middle school students. It is well-documented in the published literature that physical activity declines and sedentary behavior increases with age (Tremblay et al., 2011; Troiano et al., 2008). School PE is a key setting in which students receive formal education for building essential competence and positive attitudes for active-living. This present study demonstrates the significance of nurturing middle school students with positive attitudes toward PE and a solid understanding of PAF knowledge in school-based physical activity promotion.

Our findings indicate that students’ attitudes toward PE are significantly associated with physical activity and sedentary behavior. Supported by the correlational analysis and SEM results, it was demonstrated that both the affective and cognitive dimensions of attitude toward PE (i.e. perceived enjoyment and usefulness) had significant effects on physical activity (ps < 0.01; see Table 2 and Figure 1). This set of findings is consistent with the conclusions of previous research, that middle school students’ attitudes toward PE are associated with participation in physical activity (Chung and Phillips, 2002; Zeng et al., 2011). In addition, SEM also revealed a statistically significant path from perceived enjoyment to sedentary behavior (see Figure 1): this is an important finding of the study. To our knowledge, there are no published studies that have examined the association between students’ attitudes toward PE and sedentary behavior. Our finding thus extends previous research that examined sedentary behavior in PE (Chen et al., 2017), in that attitudes toward PE have behavioral implications for both physical activity and sedentary behavior. Typically, because of the benefits of regular participation in MVPA, PE teachers in the USA are trained to offer a curriculum and instruction geared toward encouraging and promoting physical activity (Chen and Gu, 2017; Sallis et al., 2012). However, research elsewhere by Bai et al. (2016) identified that PE classes need to pay more attention to both physical activity and sedentary behavior, because students may display the behavioral pattern of being both active and sedentary. Teaching students to recognize and differentiate these two behaviors through formal education is thus a valuable practice for providing students with the proper knowledge and attitudes to (or not to) engage in these behaviors. PE teachers are advised to equip students with cognitive and behavioral strategies to ‘move more but sit less’. For example, teaching students to set up specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals for step count was reported as an effective cognitive strategy to physically engage students in PE classes (Gu et al., 2018). In addition, offering content and learning experiences that are perceived by students as situationally interesting would facilitate engagement and learning (Chen and Wang, 2017).

The SEM model further revealed a significant relationship between attitude toward PE and PAF knowledge, although no significant paths between PAF knowledge and physical activity (or sedentary behavior) were observed. Specifically, the study demonstrated that perceived enjoyment showed a significant effect on gross PAF knowledge, while perceived usefulness did not. This finding indicates the importance of seeing PE as enjoyable in acquiring PAF knowledge, regardless of gender and grade. Learning in the cognitive domain is traditionally emphasized less in PE classes than psychomotor and affective domain learning (Morrow et al., 2016). It therefore makes sense that students would have fewer expectations to acquire a substantial amount of PAF knowledge through PE. As shown in Table 1, these participants showed only moderate achievement in PAF knowledge, slightly favoring girls and students in higher grade levels. Previous research has consistently shown the lack of knowledge in this and similar knowledge areas among K-16 learners (Chen and Nam, 2017; Keating et al., 2009). In light of this result, and results in the relevant research literature, we call for more curricular and instructional focus on teaching and advancing students’ PAF knowledge in middle school years. The positive relational path from perceived enjoyment to PAF knowledge indicates the need to foster a more positive attitude toward PE so that students will take learning more seriously in PE classes. Furthermore, to foster positive attitudes toward PE it is instrumental that the PE teacher should offer enjoyable and useful learning experiences. Students’ perceptions of and attitudes toward PE may be determined by factors such as the PE teachers’ qualifications, their dedication and professionalism, and their use of curriculum and instructional strategies (Donovan et al., 2015; Subramaniam and Silverman, 2007). Teacher education and professional development events should provide specific training to pre-service and in-service PE teachers on how to foster a positive attitude toward PE among students. Last but not least, the non-significant SEM paths from PAF knowledge to physical activity and sedentary behavior are inconsistent with the previous research which found a significant association between PAF knowledge and sedentary behavior (Chen et al., 2017). This observation supports the notion that PAF knowledge may be one of the many correlates of physical activity or sedentary behavior (Chen and Nam, 2017). Additional research that addresses the linkage between PAF knowledge and behavior, by recruiting a more diverse sample from various schools, may be necessary. In addition, the non-significant relational paths between knowledge and behavior do not mean PAF knowledge is insignificant. On the contrary, PAF knowledge should be a focal content for middle school students as both a means to becoming physically active and fit as well as an end for the cognitive domain of learning (Chen and Nam, 2017; SHAPE America, 2014).

The findings from this present study have important implications for practice. Specifically, our findings highlight the need to foster a positive attitude toward PE in middle school students. Although such students generally show a positive attitude toward PE (Subramaniam and Silverman, 2007), the expectation is that their attitude will decline from this point onward (Hunuk and Demirhan, 2010; Subramaniam and Silverman, 2007). Prior research has revealed that students’ attitudes toward PE are modifiable through purposeful interventions (Robazza et al., 2006). To maintain a positive attitude toward PE it is important for students to perceive both the PE curriculum and working with their PE teacher to be enjoyable, interesting and useful (Prusak et al., 2014; Subramaniam and Silverman, 2007). This means providing students with a safe, fun, inclusive educational environment enriched by engaging content and tasks (Prusak et al., 2014; Rikard and Banville, 2006; Woodson-Smith et al., 2015). Conversely, negative experiences in PE are detrimental both to students’ voluntary participation in physical activity (Chen and Chen, 2012) and to their attitudes toward PE or physical activity. In fact, using exercise as punishment remains common among PE teachers and coaches, a factor associated with students’ lack of enjoyment and participation in exercise and sport (Richardson et al., 2012). Such physical miseducation must stop, using teacher education and in-service teacher training to achieve this.

Despite its implications, we also acknowledge that the study has limitations. First, this is a cross-sectional study with measurements at two close time points, and the associations tested in the inferential statistical analyses and SEM are not causal in nature. Second, the study was conducted in one middle school in a Midwestern state. Although we were able to recruit most of the students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, the findings would only be generalizable to schools and populations having similar characteristics. Third, physical activity and sedentary behavior were measured by a self-report instrument (i.e. YAP). Although YAP is a validated tool and provides for collection of data from a large sample size at low cost, it is less accurate than objective measures such as use of accelerometers.

Conclusion

This study examined the association between middle school students’ attitudes toward PE, PAF knowledge and behaviors (i.e. physical activity and sedentary behavior). Using the SEM technique, robust measures and a large sample, the results of the study confirmed the important role of students’ attitudes toward PE in constructing PAF knowledge and fostering active-living behaviors. Students’ attitudes toward PE are manifested in affective and cognitive dimensions which can be influenced by the PE teacher, learning content, and learning context. Students’ experiences during PE classes would largely determine their attitudes toward PE and physical activity. These findings add to the existing literature by advancing current research on learners’ attitude toward PE. In addition, the study further reveals the need to educate youth in PE about sedentary behavior as well as physical activity. Indeed, promotion of physical activity has become a mainstream practice in PE classes across the nation. However, youth can spend many hours in a day being sedentary despite meeting the recommended level of physical activity (i.e. ≥60 minutes per day). Curbing sedentary behavior in conjunction with promoting physical activity requires intentional pedagogical effort. We recommend that sedentary behavior is added as a content focus in PE classes, and that future research on youth physical activity should also include sedentary behavior as a study variable.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest to exist with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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