The effect of virtual physical education classes in schools on physical and mental health of students and job motivation of physical education teachers during Covid-19

The virtual conduct of physical education classes during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about changes in the lifestyle of teachers and students. Such experiences necessitate policymakers to become aware of various motivators for teachers and the reasons for student participation or non-participation in classes so that they can better plan for similar circumstances. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the impact of virtual physical education classes in schools on the physical and mental health of students and the job motivation of physical education teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic.This research is both practical in terms of objective and descriptive in terms of methodology, conducted in a survey format. The population consisted of all physical education teachers and students in the first cycle of secondary education in East Azerbaijan. The sample size for physical education teachers was 291, and for students, it was 384, determined based on the Morgan table. The research instruments included two standard questionnaires: Herzberg's Job Motivation (1997) and Goldberg's General Health (1972). Shapiro-Wilk test was used to assess the normal distribution of variables, and for hypothesis testing, paired t-test and Cohen's D test were employed using SPSSV25 software.The research results indicated that the virtual conduct of physical education classes during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 7.8% decrease in the job motivation of physical education teachers and a 9.2% decrease in the physical and mental health of students (p<0.05). The findings of the study suggest that the virtual conduct of physical education classes during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a decline in the physical and mental health of students and the job motivation of physical education teachers. This underscores the need for reassessment and improvement in virtual educational programs for the future.