Children's motivational experiences following autonomy-supportive games lessons

The objectives of this study were (a) to examine students' motivational experiences arising from their participation in games lessons based on autonomy-supportive strategies; and (b) to examine the interaction between boys' and girls' motivational experiences across different categories of games. A total of 759 students (380 F, 379 M) from 37 classes (grades four to seven) were taught a lesson from one of four game categories (i.e. target, net/wall, batting/fielding, invasion) using autonomy-supportive techniques. Following the lessons children completed various measures to assess their motivational experiences. Significant between-subject differences did emerge for both gender and games category. Girls reported higher levels of optimal challenge, perceived autonomy-support, and enjoyment whereas boys reported higher levels of perceived competence. For the games category, participants reported higher levels of self-determined motivation in net/wall games whereas invasion games received the lowest motivational ratings of the four games categories.