Brazilian Middle School Students' Attitudes Toward Physical Education

• In Event: Research on Learning and Instruction in Physical Education Poster Session

Abstract

Background: Attitude influences everything we do and has been extensively studied in the English-speaking physical education. Purpose: To determine Brazilian middle school students’ attitudes toward physical education. Methods: The Student’s Attitude toward Physical Education instrument (Subramaniam & Silverman, 2000) was translated, back translated and adapted for Brazilian middle schoolers. 1,375 participants completed the instrument. Scores were validated for the Portuguese instrument. Descriptive statistics were calculated and MANOVAs and ANOVA were conducted to determine differences. Results: Students’ attitudes decline when they get older and that boys had slightly higher positive attitude than girls. The sub-variable teacher enjoyment was most important when analyzing differences. Significance: This cross-cultural study had both similar and divergent results from studies completed in the United States.

Authors

• Michele Viviene Carbinatto, University of São Paulo

• Stephen Silverman, Florida Atlantic University