Factors Affecting Senior High Students Engagement in Physical Activities: Towards Designing a More Engaging Physical Education Program
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21522617Keywords:
physical activity engagement, senior high school students, instructional quality, co-curricular sports, inclusive physical education, Project S.C.A.F.O.L.D.Abstract
This study examined the factors affecting Senior High School students’ engagement in physical activities and used the findings as the basis for designing a more engaging Physical Education program at San Mateo Vocational and Industrial High School in San Mateo, Isabela. A descriptive-correlational census design was employed among 430 Grade 11 and Grade 12 students. Data were gathered through selected interviews and an adopted, expert-validated, and pilot-tested questionnaire covering interest, personal motivation, enjoyment, agentic, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional engagement, equipment and resources, institutional support and facilities, psychosocial factors, physical health, and instructional quality. Frequency, percentage, weighted mean, mean, standard deviation, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, and post hoc comparisons were used. The respondents reported that the examined factors affected engagement to a great extent (M = 3.21). Instructional quality obtained the highest rating (M = 3.36), followed by motivation and enjoyment (M = 3.25 each), whereas physical health had the lowest mean (M = 3.09). No significant differences were found according to sex (p > .05). Differences across academic strands were significant for enjoyment and most engagement, resource, psychosocial, health, and instructional dimensions (p < .05), with HUMSS students generally obtaining the highest means; interest and motivation did not differ significantly by strand. Students participating in co-curricular sports scored significantly higher than nonparticipants across all dimensions (p < .001). These findings supported the development of Project S.C.A.F.O.L.D., a flexible, interest-based, strand-responsive framework emphasizing student choice, functional movement, resource optimization, healthy lifestyles, and diversity. The study concludes that supportive instruction is a major facilitator of engagement, but participation gaps related to health, resources, academic context, and prior sports involvement require a more inclusive and differentiated Physical Education program.
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