Dr. Ping Xiang [ping@hlkn.tamu.edu]

Ping Xiang is an associate professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M University (TAMU). She received her B.Ed. from Hunan Teachers University, China, her M.Ed. from Shanghai Institute of Physical Education, China, and her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 1996. Xiang has been active in the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA) since 1995. She is a fellow in the Research Consortium of AAHPERD and served as the Research Consortium Pedagogy Review Panel Chair for the 2005 and 2007 AAHPERD Conventions. Currently, Xiang is the program chair of the AERA Special Interest Group on Research on Learning and Instruction in Physical Education and serves on the Editorial Board of Journal of Teaching in Physical Education. Finally, Xiang has actively participated in the Chinese Scholar Network since 1999. She co-hosted the Chinese Scholar Network social meeting at AAHPERD in 2004 and served on the by-law committee of the International Chinese Society for Physical Activities and Health (ICSPAH). Her research efforts attempt to help teachers better understand what motivates children and youth to regularly participate in physical activity and physical education. Xiang has published her work in a variety of journals including Contemporary Educational Psychology, Journal of School Health, Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, and The Elementary School Journal. She has reviewed manuscripts for British Journal of Educational Psychology, British Journal of Psychology, and The Elementary School Journal as well as abstracts submitted to AAHPERD and AERA.

AEROBIC RUNNING

All of the aerobic exercises have the potential to assist in promoting physical and psychological health. However, aerobic running has been researched the most thoroughly and applied as a psychological intervention most often (Hinkle, 1988). Moreover, although considered the most difficult of the aerobic exercises, running is the best at promoting psychological health (Glasser, 1976; Harper, 1979). As a result,we emphasize running here, but not to the exclusion of other cardiovascular-enhancing exercises such as swimming, cycling, and cross-country skiing. However, children and adolescents will find running activities to be the most accessible in terms of skills development, costs, and availability.

1. Xiang, P., McBride, R., & Bruene, A. (2006). Fourth graders’ motivational changes in an elementary physical education running program. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 77,195-207.

Achievement goal theory and the expectancy-value model of achievement choice were used to examine fourth graders' motivational changes in an elementary physical education running program. In the fall and spring of the school year, participants (N = 113; 66 boys; 47 girls) completed questionnaires assessing achievement goals, expectancy beliefs, subjective task values, and intention for future running participation. They also completed a timed one-mile run. Students' persistence/effort was assessed by the number of laps run/walked across a school year. Results indicated fourth graders improved their one-mile run but became less motivated for running while participating in a year-long running program. Children's beliefs of how good they were in the running program (i.e., expectancy beliefs) and their perceptions of how interesting and fun it was (i.e., interest) emerged as the strongest positive predictors of their motivation for running over time. These findings provide strong empirical evidence that expectancy beliefs and interest are constructs essential to children's motivation in elementary physical education.
Keywords: achievement goals, expectancy-value theory, children, running motivation

2. Xiang, P., Chen, A., & Bruene, A. (2005). Interactive impact of intrinsic motivators and extrinsic rewards on behavior and motivation outcomes. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 24: 179-197.

The roles of intrinsic motivators and extrinsic rewards have long been debated in the motivation research community. Yet, both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation strategies are applied routinely in various educational programs in schools. We examined the inter-relationship of extrinsic reward with achievement goals (including work-avoidance goal), competence beliefs and task values (i.e., attainment value/importance, intrinsic value/interest, and utility value/usefulness) associated with health-enhancing running tasks over a school year. A group of elementary school students (n = 119) from a running for running program and another (n = 88) from a running for games program provided pre- and post-year data on their achievement goals, competence beliefs, task values, their achievement in running tests, and their future intention to continue running as a health-enhancing activity. Results showed that students in the running for games program demonstrated significant growth in task-involved achievement goals. The regression analyses showed that the extrinsic reward and selected intrinsic motivation constructs played a small role in predicting the behavior outcome - running test scores. Interest emerged, however, as the most important intrinsic motivation construct predicting future motivation for running. Interest seems to override the effects not only from extrinsic reward, but also the effects from other intrinsic motivation sources. This finding may suggest interest-based motivation sources may have a strong and prolonged effect on learner motivation.

3. Xiang, P., McBride, R., & Bruene, A. (2004). Fourth graders’ motivation in an elementary physical education running program. The Elementary School Journal, 104: 253-266.

The present study examined children's motivation in an elementary physical education running program using achievement goal theory and an expectancy-value model of achievement choice as theoretical frameworks. Fourth graders (N = 119) completed questionnaires assessing their achievement goals, expectancy-related beliefs, subjective task values, and intention for future participation in running. They also completed the one-mile run test as a performance outcome. Results indicated that achievement goals, expectancy-related beliefs, and subjective task values were related to one another and were predictive of children's intention for future participation in running and their one-mile run test. While boys and girls did not differ on the mean scores of the variables, they seemed to be motivated by a somewhat different combination of achievement goals, expectancy-related beliefs and subjective task values. Findings provided empirical evidence supporting the use of a multiple-theoretical perspective in motivation and achievement research in physical education.

4. Xiang, P., Bruene, A., & McBride, R. (2004). Fourth graders in an elementary physical education running program: An achievement goal theory approach. Journal of School Health, 74: 220-225.

5. Xiang, P., McBride, R., & Bruene, A. (2003). Relations of parents’ beliefs to children’s motivation in an elementary physical education running program. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 22: 410-425.

Using achievement goal theory and the expectancy-value model of achievement choice as theoretical frameworks, this study examined relationships between parents' beliefs and their children's motivation in an elementary physical education running program. Participants included 102 parents and their children (49 boys; 53 girls) in the third and fourth grades. The parents completed questionnaires assessing their achievement goals, competence beliefs, task values, and gender stereotypic beliefs about running. Children's persistence/effort was assessed by the number of laps run/walked over the year-long running program. Performance was measured by the timed mile run. Results indicated that only parents' competence/value beliefs were predictive of their children's persistence/effort and mile run performance. Gender stereotypic beliefs influenced achievement goals the parents adopted for their children. Findings provided empirical support for the importance of parental beliefs for children's motivation in physical activity.

[Edited by Zan Gao]