A Study on Mediating Effects of Outcome Expectancy on Relationships among Perceived Caring Climate, Task Engagement and Task Persistence in Physical Education

Background/Objectives: The purpose is to identify the mediating effects of outcome expectancy on the relationships among the caring climate perceived by students, their task engagement and task persistence in physical education. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Participants were 343 students at four middle schools in metropolitan areas. The goodness of fit of the entire model was verified through SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0 and the hypotheses were tested. Findings: First, the caring climate involved a positive prediction of the outcome expectancy. The caring climate had positive effects on the task engagement and task persistence of students. Second, outcome expectancy in physical education class has positive effects on task engagement and task persistence; those are active class participation behaviors. Third, the outcome expectancy in a physical education class had mediating effects on the relationship among the caring climate perceived by students, their task engagement and task persistence. Findings concluded that a caring climate should be established for the students and their positive expectancy can lead to active participation. Applications/Improvements: Physical education teachers should establish a student-centered class climate to provide high quality education. Also, they should select proper tasks and adjust the level of difficulty to live up to the student expectancy