Affective Behavior - Importance of Testing Affective Behavior

Running head: Affective Behavior

Affective Behavior

By: Andrew Heisler

Albertson College of Idaho

Introduction

Affective Behavior is a frequently debated topic in Physical Education. Many physical educators believe in the principles behind testing the affective domain. However, a large number of physical educators have issues with testing this domain. Affective Behavior “involves the interests, appreciations, attitudes, values, and emotional bias of an individual” ( Miller, 2006, p.281). This behavior is reflected through an individual’s feelings and emotions.

Importance of testing Affective Behavior

Physical educators believe there are many positive benefits of testing affective behavior. The results can inform teachers on how students feel about the class. This can be very beneficial in changing and structuring the class so students are getting the most from physical education. Through affective behavior physical educators are able to evaluate how much the students are enjoying activities. Increasing the activities they like and decreasing the ones they dislike, may increase the enjoyment of the class. Teachers are also able to look at the areas of disinterest and evaluate why the students are not responding to these activities. In the future the teacher might modify how the skill set is taught or change the parameters in which the students are participating. Gathering this data strengthens the relationship between the teacher and the student, because it allows for better communication between the two. Through this relationship both individuals are motivated to perform at there best. The teacher showed interest and is therefore motivated to make physical education a useful and beneficial experience. The teacher shows a personal interest in the development of the students. The student is also motivated, because they are given the opportunity to make changes and add input into their class. The students are more likely to be excited about physical education when the activities are of interest to them. Allowing students to influence there own education reduces anxiety among students who may dislike physical education. Testing affective behavior also allows the physical educator to asses changes in attitudes over time. While basketball and baseball might be the most popular sports, students may soon have interests in new physical activities like rock climbing and yoga. Times change and so do students attitudes and beliefs. Testing affective behavior allows physical educators to evaluate the feelings and emotions of their students.

Opposition to Testing Affective Behavior

Many physical educators oppose testing the affective domain. There are many reasons for this; mainly the opposition lies in what to do with the information, and not the information itself. That is to say that the teachers find value in the feelings and emotions of their students; but they feel the tests inaccurately represent the information. To begin many physical educators recognize that behaviors change much slower than other activities such as basketball skills. It isn’t effective to measure behavior when it changes so slowly. Also the information from the tests are difficult to define and evaluate. Often times teachers with have 100 surveys about physical education but no effective way to evaluate the information. It may also be argued that feelings are not teachable. How do you teach having a positive attitude. Other physical educators find problems with privacy. Many teachers complain that the students do not feel comfortable reporting accurate answers and are often influenced by the group. If the information is not accurate than what good is it? Another problem is that most physical educators have no training in psychology and therefore lack the education necessary to interpret the information. Physical education is the only course in school that measures affective behavior. “Math and English teachers seldom include affective behavior into there lesson plans,” (Miller, 2006. p. 281). Why are physical educators given this responsibility? Lastly, teachers report that they don’t have enough time to measure both the physical and cognitive domains along with affective behavior. PE classes are already shortened in many school districts, increasing the difficulty in testing