Abstract
Research has shown that interest and enjoyment are some of the key ingredients to physical activity and sport participation. Additionally, research has shown that appropriate feedback can improve skill and motivation in physical activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether appropriate teacher feedback would improve interest in a previously disliked physical activity. Fifth and sixth grade elementary school students (N = 215: 103 boys, 112 girls) completed questionnaires assessing their interest in 15 physical activities. The lowest interest activity between the genders was lacrosse. Eight lacrosse lessons were taught to two groups, a control group who received minimal feedback, and an experimental group who received a high rate of feedback that was over 50% positive. The questionnaire was given again at the end of the unit to assess if the students’ interest level had changed. Results showed that both the control and experimental groups improved significantly, with no significant differences between the groups. However, there was a significant difference in the improvement level seen between the genders. Although both boys and girls improved significantly, the boys improved significantly more. Therefore, both exposure and appropriate feedback in physical education improved interest in a previously disliked activity.