Does “Sneaky Fox” Facilitate Learning? Examining the Effects of Seductive Details in Physical Education

Abstract

While seductive details are enjoyable, they are unimportant content or activities intentionally inserted to make class fun and interesting. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of seductive details on students' learning of net games in physical education. Participants were 240 middle school students. A videotaped lesson example named “outfox your opponent” was used as the stimulus, and a 2 x 3 (condition x grade) factorial analysis was designed. The results showed that seductive details directly interrupted students' recall of important learning content and transferring problem solving in learning net games. It is suggested that the function of seductive details on learning should be reconsidered when designing effective motivational strategies in physical education.

Key words:

• fun
• motivational strategies
• situational interest

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bo Shen

This study was supported by Wayne State University internal research grant. Please address all correspondence concerning this article to Bo Shen, Division of Kinesiology, Health, and Sport Studies, College of Education, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202.