Children’s
motivation towards Physical Education (PE) decreases over the elementary school
year, but little is known about how and why those declines influence changes of
children’s intention and Physical Activity (PA). Guided by the expectancy-value
model, this study attempted to examine the relationship between changes of
children’s motivation to changes in children’s intention for future
participation in PE and PA over an academic year. Using a repeated measurement
technique, 354 (4
th 180, 5
th 174) school children’s
expectancy-related beliefs, task values, intention, and PA were assessed twice
over one academic school year. Time 1 was at the beginning of the fall
semester, and Time 2 was at the end of the subsequent spring semester. Students’
expectancy-related beliefs and task values were positively related to their
intention and PA at both Time 1 and Time 2. A factorial repeated measure MANOVA showed that decreases in task values and
intention were significant (
p <
.01). Regression analyses indicated that decreases in children’s
expectancy-related beliefs and task values explained significant variance in a
decrease in their intention. Additionally, changes of expectancy-related
beliefs emerged as significant predictors of changes in children’s PA. The
findings revealed that children perceived less values toward PE across one
academic year. Consequently, this change could contribute to the decreases in
children’s intention for future participation. Thus, PE teachers should focus
on learning activities students perceive as important, interesting, and usefulness
in elementary school.