Abstract
Using basketball as a medium, we examined how differences in structuring teaching material (class plans) would affect the attitudes toward physical education courses and skills of children. Four classes of sixth graders participated in the study. Class plans were structured in four different concepts as follows. (1) "Image" aproach: give priority to that image of basketball espoused by the children (having the children formulate their own tasks). (2) "Evolutionary" approach: have the children "discover" a predetermined sequence of developments in learning basketball, based on the historical evolution of the game. (3) "Combination" approach: emphasize the importance of passing to set up the shot, which is the basic element in teamwork. (4) "Shooting" approach: helping the children fulfill their individual desires of wanting to shoot baskets by emphasizing instruction on that skill. Differences in attitudes toward physical educaiton courses and group skills were seen among the four structured approaches. The students undergoing the "Image" approach performed better in the questionnaire on attitudes toward physical education courses and in group skills than did the students undergoing the "Evolutionary" or "Shooting" approaches. The students undergoing the "Image" approach also scored higher in attitudes toward physical education courses than did the students who underwent the "Combination" approach.
