Effect of Sport Education on students’ perceived physical literacy, motivation and physical activity levels in university required physical education: A cluster-randomized trial

Originating from the field of physical education, physical literacy is an individual disposition that accentuates the importance of the lifelong physical activity. Sport Education is a sport-based physical education curriculum and instructional model that has been espoused to operationalize physical literacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Sport Education within a compulsory physical education program on university students’ physical literacy and physical activity levels. A parallel-group single-blind cluster randomized research design was used to examine the effect of a 10-lesson Sport Education intervention in physical education on students’ physical activity and physical literacy from baseline, through post-intervention, and follow-up phases. A total of 372 participants completed all phases of data collection. Results showed increases in the affective and social domains of physical literacy across both groups. Findings also revealed a greater increase in daily self-reported physical activity levels and a reduction in perceived disempowering motivational climate in the Sport Education group at the follow-up phase. With a limited controlling and ego-evolving climate, Sport Education was found to be beneficial in developing the behavioral domain of undergraduate student physical literacy.