Students Believe That Physical Education Must Be More Than Just Sports Jessica Richards Grimes Graduate Teaching Assistant Auburn University School of Kinesiology 301 Wire Rd. Rm 106 Auburn, AL 36849 Jmr0101@auburn.edu 334-695-5208 Dr. J. Brandon Sluder Professor Troy University Kinesiology and Health Promotion Department 112 Wright Hall Troy, AL 36082 jbsluder@troy.edu 334-808-6292 ABSTRACT There is growing evidence that indicates students are not enjoying physical education due to the lack of appeal provided by the instructor (Smith & St. Pierre, 2009) Typically, this is seen in a physical education setting that does not cultivate an autonomy-supportive teaching environment (Haerens, Aelterman, Vansteenkiste, Soenens, & Van Petegem, 2014). When students are amotivated, commonly seen in this type of environment, losing interest in the sport-related games is not uncommon (Tessier, Sarrazin, Ntoumanis, 2010). In some states students have the opportunity to help write the curriculum for physical education in each school system (Alabama Course of Study). The purpose of this investigation is twofold, (1) To compare the pros and cons of a sport-based curriculum with a student-centered curriculum in secondary physical education and (2) Discuss the benefits of secondary physical education teachers changing their focus from Sport-based to student-centered curriculums.
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