Assessing the effect of different teaching strategies on students’ affective learning outcomes during volleyball lessons

Background: Physical education (PE) plays a relevant role in promoting health- and well-being-related behaviours in youths. Anyway, there is a lack of evidence about the effect of game-centred teaching strategies on the affective domain of learning. Purpose:The aim of this study was to assess the effect of two different PE teaching strategies on the affective domain of learning forhigh school students. Methods:Seventy-seven students were divided into a control group (n=37), which were then enrolled in an instructional plan based on drill- practice and a teacher-centred approach, and an intervention-group (n=40), which experienced PE lessons developed by following the tactical game model (TGM). The affective domain of learning was assessed by considering the level of enjoyment and the perceived motivational climate. The Italian version of the physical activity enjoyment scale was used to assess the level of enjoyment, while the second version of the perceivedmotivational climate in sport questionnaire was used for the motivational climate. Data analysis and results: Independent sample t-tests were usedto compare the scores estimated with the aforementioned instruments between the different students groups. Cohen’s d measure was used to interpret the effective size of the groups’ score differences. Significant higher scores resulted in a level of enjoyment and in a task-involving climate dimension for the students of the TGM group. Alternatively, significant scores were foundin the control group for the ego-involving climate dimension and for the negative level of enjoyment.The effect of these differences was from moderate to large. Conclusion: Therefore, the current results suggested the use of the TGM to provide a valuable teaching-learning experience to obtain positive effects on the affective domain of learning throughout physical education lessons. In a practical perspective, the use of a game-centred approach led the teacher to provide fun and task-oriented teaching-learning processes during PE lessons.