A comparative study of students' perceptions toward physical education course and their actual behaviors toward physical activities in Grades 10 and 11 in a public high school at Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine students’ perceptions and their actual behaviors toward physical education course and to investigate if there is a significant difference in students’ perceptions and their actual behaviors in Grades10 and 11 at a public high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Quantitative method and questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data from 317 students (Grade 10 = 160 and Grade 11 = 157) from the public high school. The questionnaire was adopted from Chi-Kwong (1999) and Alselaimi (2010). Questionnaire was divided into three parts: demographic information, students’ perceptions toward physical education course (personal factor, behavior, environment, and perceived evaluation of curriculum) and students’ actual behaviors toward physical activities. The data was analyzed by using means, standard of deviation, and independent samples t-test for quantitative data related to students’ perceptions and their actual behaviors toward physical activities. The study discovered that both Grades 10 and 11 students had positive perception toward physical education course in that public high school. The results also conveyed that there is no significant difference among the Grades 10 and 11 students in regards their perception toward a physical education course and their actual behaviors toward physical activities.