The influence of various stimuli on motivation and motoric performance of KFUPM students

Many researchers in the field of Physical Education (PE) look for the best method and resources how to motivate students to achieve their best results. Many of them publish different topics about the importance of motivation in PE and how to motivate students to achieve better performances and results. The aim of this unique research study is, to apply and compare different stimuli during physical education classes which are intended to increase a students motivation and also their final results in the selected motoric tests.The study intends to involve more than 1500 KFUPM students over a two-year period. Participants will be divided into two groups. Group A will consist of students who are physically active (at least 90 minutes per week) in their daily life. Group B will be made up of students who are not physically active and spend less than 90 minutes per week engaging with physical activities. A questionnaire will be designed for all participants in order to determine the group they belong to. Thereafter selected motoric tests in a traditional way and non-traditional way (using different stimuli for enhancing their performance and motivation) will be applied to both groups and the effectiveness of each stimulus will be analysed separately. Each participant will repeat each motoric test (30m sprint, high jump, bench press, beep test) three times except beep test just two times. The first time will be in the traditional way without any stimulus (feedback, verbal motivation). The second time will be with feedback and the third time with feedback and verbal motivation (it will be standardized). Group A and Group B are going to be therefore blinded control and experimental groups by themselves. On the basis of the results the most effective stimulus for Group A (active) and Group B (non-active) will be evaluated. At the end of the research study each participant will be given a new questionnaire which will focus on student motivation during the tests with the intention of identifying which stimuli were better for each group based on their subjective feelings rather than performance itself. This research purports to illustrate owing to objective and subjective results, how to increase motivation and performance of students during a limited amount of PE classes time during semesters at university. It is also believed that the different stimuli will motivate differently the selected Group A and Group B, which provide an important indication how to activate students with or without interest in sport.