Effects of a Sport Education Model-Based Teaching Intervention on Students’ Behavioral and Motivational Outcomes within the Physical Education Setting in the COVID-19 Scenario

The sport education model (SEM) has been suggested to have a positive impact on students’ motivational processes within the physical education setting. However, there is no evidence about how this methodology can affect such processes in the unconventional scenario provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present study was to analyze the effect of a SEM-based teaching intervention on students’ basic psychological needs (BPN), intrinsic motivation, and behavioral engagement in physical education. For this purpose, a quasi-experimental study was carried out in which two groups of secondary students (Mage = 14.61, SD = 0.5) were taught a basketball unit following either the SEM or traditional teaching. Previously validated questionnaires were administered both before and after the intervention. The results showed that students following the SEM methodology significantly improved their autonomy satisfaction (MPre = 3.09 vs. Mpost = 3.63), competence satisfaction (Mpre = 3.48 vs. Mpost = 4.17), and relatedness satisfaction (MPre = 3.79 vs. MPost = 4.43), as well as their behavioral engagement (MPre = 4.05 vs. MPost = 4.48), while students in the control group reported lower relatedness satisfaction after (M = 3.54) than before (M = 4.13) the intervention. This study thus contributes to the understanding of how teaching in a COVID-19 scenario has affected students’ motivational responses, and interesting implications for the current situation are provided.