Innovative approaches in physical education: leveraging cognitive activation to boost student outcomes

TL;DR

This study shows that using cognitive activation strategies in physical education improves student engagement, motivation, and physical performance, especially in under-resourced areas.

Contribution

The study introduces cognitive activation as a novel pedagogical approach to enhance physical education outcomes through self-efficacy and motivation.

Findings

Cognitive activation strategies significantly improve students' physical performance and health behaviors.

Classroom engagement, motivation, and self-efficacy mediate the positive effects of cognitive activation.

Emotional regulation had limited impact on health behaviors and was not significantly influenced by cognitive activation.

Abstract

Physical education (PE) often struggles with suboptimal student engagement, which impedes the development of physical competence and lifelong health habits. This challenge is especially acute in under-resourced areas like Southwest China. Cognitive Activation Teaching Strategies (CATS), which promote higher-order thinking, offer a potential solution. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate the impact of CATS on primary school students’ physical performance and health behaviors, specifically examining the mediating roles of classroom engagement, self-efficacy, motivation, and emotional regulation.

A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was employed. First, quantitative data were collected from a stratified sample of 929 primary school students and their parents in Southwest China using validated questionnaires. The hypothesized mediation model was then analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Following this, qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and non-participant classroom observations with 12 purposively selected “high-CATS” teachers to provide deeper insight into the classroom mechanisms at play.

The SEM results indicated that CATS significantly and positively predicted students’ physical performance and health behaviors. This relationship was strongly mediated by classroom engagement, PE motivation, and particularly, PE self-efficacy. Conversely, the pathway from CATS to emotional regulation was not statistically significant, and emotional regulation did not significantly predict health behaviors. The qualitative findings corroborated the quantitative data, revealing that teachers’ use of goal-setting, progressive challenges, and feedback created a “productive struggle,” which visibly enhanced students’ intrinsic motivation and collaborative engagement.

This study provides robust evidence that cognitive activation is a highly effective pedagogical approach in PE. By fostering self-efficacy and motivation, CATS directly enhance in-class engagement and physical performance. The findings suggest that designing PE tasks to be cognitively challenging is crucial for improving student outcomes. However, the limited impact on emotional regulation and out-of-class health behaviors indicates that CATS alone may be insufficient. Educational programs should therefore integrate CATS to boost classroom success while also developing comprehensive, multi-faceted interventions to cultivate emotional skills and promote the transfer of healthy habits beyond the school setting.

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