Abstract

In physical education courses, ability to learn sports and/or movement has to be developed, along with movement skill and physical fitness. This competence would depend greatly upon attitudes toward the physical education courses. Most of the attitude scales, as well as Wear Attitude Inventory, have been inductively developed by the goals of physical education. It is, however, considered that attitude measurement should be dependent on the structure of attitudes among children toward physical education courses. The present study was designed to develop attitude scales for the 3rd and 4th grade children in elementary school using factor analysis, and to confirm its validity as a mean of analyzing the effect of the instruction. The detailed description of the method has been given by Umeno (1980). The results obtained were as follows: The structure of attitudes among the 3rd and 4th grade children in elementary school toward physical education courses could be explained by the following four factors: The first factor could be named Evaluation for the instruction of physical education, and the second could be named Value for the physical education. Than the third could be named Pleasure for physical activities. In addition to the above factors Value of Sports Life was extracted from the second factor in the 4th grade children. Significant coefficients of Split-half Reliability were found in Evaluation and Pleasure scales for 3rd grade children, and in Evaluation, Pleasure and Value scales for 4th grade children. V.-R.