Emotions experienced in educational settings link to students’ motivation, engagement, learning, and achievement. Despite meaningful interconnections between emotions, motivation, and desired outcomes, a dearth of research on student emotions in physical education (PE) currently exists. The Control-Value Theory of Achievement Emotions (CVTAE) highlights the importance of emotions within students’ achievement motivation and provides a comprehensive framework for investigating their antecedents and outcomes. The purpose of this investigation was to explore CVTAE as a potential framework to understand students’ achievement emotions in PE. We focus on emotional antecedents associated with the PE learning context and the role of emotions in facilitating desired PE outcomes.

Innovative Physical Education (PE) instructional and curriculum models have had a modest effect on PE programs in the United States (U.S.). In general, although several evidence-based models have been developed, there has been less adoption within schools. Notwithstanding, science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) curriculum and Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAP) have proliferated in many US schools impacting most content areas, including PE. One instructional approach popular in modern education aligning with both programs, is Project-Based Learning (PBL). This article conceptualises current PBL characteristics and its potential in PE. Specifically, we explore how PBL has impacted student learning experiences and the limited research in PE thus far. PE teachers who implement PBL may simultaneously improve student learning and gain a seat at the table with other educational subjects by connecting with schoolwide initiatives. A call for more research on design and implementation of PBL in PE is provided.

Discrete emotions provide a lens for understanding students’ subjective experiences in physical education (PE). Enjoyment of PE is one discrete emotion that receives a great deal of attention because it promotes students’ interest and engagement. However, the implications of students’ negative emotions toward PE remain less clear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine relationships between students’ negative emotions including shame, boredom, and anger in PE and self-reported disruptive behavior, leisure time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and sedentary time. Middle school students ( N = 401) completed surveys on all study variables seven weeks apart. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the validity and reliability of students’ reports of negative emotions and behaviors across two time points. A cross-lagged design using structural equation modeling tested relationships between emotions and behavioral outcomes. Shame related to higher reports of future disruptive and sedentary behaviors and lower reports of leisure time MVPA. Boredom also related to lower reports of future leisure time MVPA. Lastly, anger related to higher reports of future disruptive behavior but lower reports of sedentary behavior. Each negative emotion produced unique relationship patterns that generally underscored undesirable student behaviors. Evaluating discrete emotions can highlight information regarding students’ action tendencies. Understanding relationships between negative emotions and their resulting behaviors may help inform interventions and best teacher practices in PE. Overall, physical education teachers need to be aware of students’ negative emotions and make pedagogical and content-related decisions to improve students’ subjective experiences.

Background: The use of fitness tests in physical education (PE) receives extensive scrutiny and represents one of the most fiercely debated topics in PE research. Fitness test proponents often provide unwavering support citing their positive long-term benefits while critics underscore the corrosive long-term pitfalls associated with their use in PE. In many instances, both proponents and critics alike make these arguments with limited evidence to support their claims. Recently, critics have also highlighted the gendered nature of fitness tests, reporting that overt characteristics of these tests and their implementation create covert messages that reduce girls’ motivation toward PE. Therefore, there is a clear need to gather evidence concerning the effects that fitness tests have on students’ subjective experiences in PE. Purpose: The purposes of this study were twofold. First, we examine relationships between middle school students’ fitness test performances and their future attitudes and emotions toward PE. Second, we investigate how these relationships vary for girls and boys. Method: A total of 273 middle school students (6th-8th grade; Male = 52%, Female = 48%) completed Fitnessgram™ battery of tests. Two weeks later, students completed two previously validated surveys about: a) their attitudes, and b) their discreet emotions (enjoyment, boredom, and anger) toward PE. First, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to evaluate relationships for the entire sample. Once this baseline model was established, multi-group SEM identified similarities and differences in the pattern of relationships between girls and boys. Results: Findings revealed that better PACER performance predicted lower reports of future anger toward PE for both girls and boys. Conversely, increased performance on the curl-up test predicted higher rates of anger and lower rates of enjoyment toward PE. Increased PACER performance also predicted favorable attitudes for boys but not girls while increased sit-and-reach performance predicted favorable attitudes for girls but not boys. It should be noted, however, that fitness test performances explained limited amounts of variance in these outcomes, especially for girls. Conclusions: Unlike the common arguments about the valuable or harmful effects of fitness testing, our results suggested these tests had limited associations with students’ future attitudes and emotions toward PE. Overall, we remain pessimistic about the use of fitness tests in PE because these PE teachers implemented fitness tests in isolation of the broader PE curriculum. Scores were neither shared with parents/guardians nor used to help students learn about their fitness. Students did not compare their results to previous tests and, to our knowledge, scores were not used for any large-scale surveillance purposes. It remains unclear how fitness test performances relate to student attitudes and emotions toward PE when implemented in a comprehensive and connected manner within the broader curriculum.

Purpose: Grounded in control-value theory, a model of students’ achievement emotions in physical education (PE) was investigated.Methods: A path analysis tested hypotheses that students’ (N = 529) perceptions of teacher responsiveness, assertiveness, and clarity predict control and value beliefs which, in turn, predict enjoyment and boredom.Results: Teacher clarity predicted student control (β = .31; R²= .09) and value (β = .21; R²= .07) beliefs. Value and control beliefs positively predicted enjoyment (β = .71; β = .11; R² = .58) and negatively predicted boredom (β = -.61; β = -.13; R² = .47).Discussion: Findings provide meaningful information about the source of students’ emotional experiences in PE. The importance of instructional clarity within the model highlights the need for teachers to use a variety of clarifying strategies during instruction. The strong links between value beliefs and emotions suggest teachers need to explicitly discuss the intrinsic and extrinsic worth of PE content.