Finnish students’ enjoyment and anxiety levels during fitness testing classes

Background: Fitness testing is a commonly applied learning and teaching practice implemented in both secondary and elementary school physical education (PE). Many teachers believe that by using a variety of different tests, they are able to provide students with feedback regarding their fitness status, and furthermore, increase students’ willingness to be physically active later in their lives. However, empirical evidence concerning students’ affective responses during fitness testing classes is limited. Purpose: The primary aim of the study was to investigate whether students’ perceptions of enjoyment and anxiety differed between two different types of fitness testing classes and PE in gen…

Predicting accelerometer-based physical activity in physical education and total physical activity: The Self-determination Theory approach

The present study tested the motivational model of physical education (PE) including needs for competence, autonomy, social relatedness, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, in-class moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and total MVPA. Participants were 490 (264 girls, 226 boys) Finnish elementary school students. The data were collected using accelerometers and questionnaires for a seven-day period during the fall semester 2017. The key findings were that 1) social relatedness associated with total MVPA via in-class MVPA in girls, whereas competence was linked to in-class MVPA through extrinsic motivation in boys, 2) competence was positively linked to extrinsic motivation in a si…

Motor competence, perceived physical competence, physical fitness, and physical activity within Finnish children

The purpose of this study was to investigate reciprocal relationships among students’ motor competence (MC) (leaping, throwing, catching, jumping skills), perceived physical competence, health‐related fitness (HRF) (20 m shuttle run, push‐up, abdominal muscles endurance tests) and objectively measured moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Participants included 422 Grade 5 Finnish children (246 girls). Two separate structural equation models investigated paths (a) from MC through both perceived physical competence and HRF to MVPA, and (b) from MVPA through both perceived physical competence and HRF to MC. Model 1 demonstrated an indirect path from MC through HRF to MVPA and a direct…

Pesäpallon lukkarin koulutusmateriaalin kehittäminen : näkökulmia dominoivan pelaajan rooliin

Kestävän bioenergiatulevaisuuden rakentaminen : Osa 1, Keski-Suomen bioenergiakoulutuksen historia ja tulevaisuus bioenergiakoulutuksen resurssit

Jumpan jalanjäljiltä akateemiseen maisterintutkintoon : Jyväskylän yliopiston liikunnanopettajakoulutus vuosina 1963-2013

Physical education teacher education (PETE) became an academic discipline in 1963 in Finland at the University of Jyväskylä, which remains the only site for physical education teacher education in the country. All qualified PE teachers in Finland are educated to master’s level. This thesis describes the content formation of PE teacher education in its 50 years’ history in Finland. The data consists of study guides of the University of Jyväskylä and Jyväskylä University College of Education from 1963 to 2013, public and private archive materials, legal records concerning education, and interviews conducted with key persons in the history and development of PETE in Finland. The data was analy…

Kestävän bioenergiatulevaisuuden rakentaminen : Osa 3, Keski-Suomen bioenergiakoulutuksen kehittäminen bioenergiakoulutuksen resurssit

Physical fitness of individuals with intellectual disability who have special olympics experience

Physical fitness of individuals with intellectual disability (ID) is low compared to those without ID. Part of the mission of Special Olympics is to develop physical fitness. However, little is known about fitness levels of Special Olympics athletes. This study examined the fitness level of individuals who participated in Nordic Special Olympics Games 2008 in Finland. The sample consisted of 59 Special Olympics athletes (44 men, 15 women, age 16–45) whose fitness scores were compared to INAS-athletes (International Association of Sport for para-athletes with ID) and Finnish non-athletic individuals with ID. The fitness battery consisted of 8 items: BMI, sit-and-reach test, stork stand, sit …