The Effect of Different Teaching Strategies on the Moral Development of Physical Education Students

This study examined the effectiveness of social learning (SL) or structuraldevelopmental (SD) teaching strategies on the moral development of elementary-age students. Participants were 204 physical education students in Grades 4,5, and 6; three classrooms in each grade were randomly assigned to control, SL, or SD groups. Self-report measures assessed moral judgment, reason, and intention; teachers rated prosocial behavior. By midand postintervention classlevel analyses, the SL and SD groups scored significantly higher than the control on moral judgment andlor intention; by postintervention, the SD group was significantly higher on moral reason. Midand postintervention studentlevel analyses showed that the SL and SD groups scored significantly higher on moral judgment, intention, and behavior; the SD group was significantly higher on moral reason. These results provide support for the effectiveness of both social learning and structural-developmental teaching strategies on the moral development of children in physical education.