The Effect of Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) Approach on Motivation and Confidence of Nine-year-old Boys

The present study evaluated the effect of teaching games for understanding approach (TGfU) on motivation and confidence. To this aim, the nine-year-old students in two fourth-grade classes at a school in Sirjan were randomly divided into control and experimental group (N= 12 for each). Participants' motivation and confidence were measured using Children's Self-Perceptions of Adequacy in and Predilection for Physical Activity (CSAPPA) questionnaire as both the pre-test and post-test. The students in the experimental group participated in an intervention program for 36 sessions each lasting for 45 minutes. Mann-Whitney test was used for comparing the scores of each factor after the intervention and the groups by removing the effect of each factor before the intervention of “Poisson regression analysis” by using GEE method". The results indicated that this approach can significantly affect motivation and confidence and its three sub-factors in the CSAPPA questionnaire. The results support the hypothesis that the use of the TGfU approach can be effective on the development of motivation and confidence in children.