Effects of Physical Education Playfulness on Academic Grit and Attitude toward Physical Education in Middle School Students in The Republic of Korea

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of playability in secondary physical education classes in Korea on academic grit and attitudes toward physical education. A total of 296 middle school students located in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, Korea were surveyed via simple random sampling. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistical analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and standard multiple regression analysis. Three primary results were obtained. First, playfulness was found to have a significant positive effect on academic grit. Specifically, mental spontaneity positively and significantly affected academic passion (β = 0.400), academic perseverance (β = 0.298), and consistency of academic interest (β = 0.297). Additionally, among the sub-variables of playfulness, humorous perspective was found to have a positive significant effect on maintaining consistency of academic interest (β = 0.255). The second primary finding was that playfulness had a significant positive effect on classroom attitudes to physical education. Specifically, physical animation and emotional fluidity were found to positively and significantly affect basic attitudes (β = 0.290 and 0.330, respectively) and social attitudes (β = 0.398 and 0.297, respectively). Third, academic grit was found to have a significant positive effect on PE classroom attitudes. Specifically, academic passion was found to have a positive and significant effect on basic attitudes (β = 0.427) and social attitude (β = 0.358). The results imply that attitude toward school life can be improved through physical activity in secondary physical education classes.

Conceptual Framework of Applied Holistic Education in Physical Education and Sports: A Systematic Review of Empirical Evidence

“…From the 15 selected papers, mostly were experimental research as illustrated in Fig. 2, namely 73% or 11 articles (Cañabate et al, 2020;Kolovelonis et al, 2023;Koszałka-Silska et al, 2021;Luna et al, 2021;Meijer et al, 2022;Melero-Cañas et al, 2021;Mullender-Wijnsma et al, 2019;Pirrie & Lodewyk, 2012;Wawrzyniak et al, 2022), followed by correlational 13% or 2 articles (Gwon & Shin, 2023;Morita et al, 2016), explanatory 7% or 2 articles (Jeon et al, 2021;Rillo-Albert et al, 2021).…”

“…The last shared element is playfulness, meaning that learning should be fun and engaging. Gwon & Shin (2023) noted that with playability increase, there will be academic grit that also increase. Academic grit is mediating factor for PE-related attitude.…”

“…In order to achieve benefit in fitness and psychomotor while still able to secure the advantage on other learning domain in the framework of holistic education, some researchers suggest that PE lesson should meet the minimum requirement of 20 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on each session (Morita et al, 2016;Pirrie & Lodewyk, 2012). In addition, ideally it should also be ensured that students feel joy when participating in PE lessons, so that even though the intensity is moderate-tovigorous, students can still show a good learning attitude during learning (Gwon & Shin, 2023;Jeon et al, 2021;Kolovelonis et al, 2023;Melero-Cañas et al, 2021).…”

“…Some factors that can affect a student's cognitive skill include genetics, environment, and education. PE has been found to have a positive impact on cognitive skills (Gwon & Shin, 2023;Kolovelonis et al, 2023;Meijer et al, 2022;Melero-Cañas et al, 2021). PE can improve cognitive skills in several ways.…”

“…This is similar with another research findings that playfulness is important in PE. Through a physical lesson that perceived to be fun, students can develop academic grit that will not only benefit them in PE, but other academic areas to engage in positive school lives (Gwon & Shin, 2023). Different tactical approach used to combine mathematical concept with physical education to create positive impact on cognitive aspect (Wawrzyniak et al, 2022).…”