Decision-Making in Elementary School-Age Children: Effects upon Motor Learning and Self-Concept Development

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of variable decision-making teaching models upon the development of body coordination and self-concept of children in grades one through five. Students in two socioeconomically equivalent schools of a large, inner-city school system constituted the sample (N = 285) for this study. Intact classroom groups from the experimental school were randomly assigned to one of two experimental treatments. The control school did not receive any treatment. The experimental treatments consisted of two physical education programs which varied only in the type of teacher behavior exhibited. Cheffers' Adaptation of Flanders' Interaction Analysis System (Cheffers, Mancini, & Marlinek, 1980) was used to verify the two treatments used. The Schilling Body Coordination Test (Schilling & Kephart, 1976) was used to evaluate motor skill development, and the Marlinek-Zaichkowsky Self-Concept Scale (1977) was used to evaluate self-concept development. Results indicated that learners can be given decision-making responsibility within the physical education environment and, at the same time, maintain a level of motor skill achievement equal to that of learners who have not been allowed to make decisions within the learning environment. No conclusions could be drawn concerning the effects of student decision making upon self-concept development. Additional results indicated that the development of body coordination is a function of maturation, and that no relationship exists between self-concept and body coordination.