The effect of project-based learning on students’ motivation in school-based physical Education and behavioral intention toward sport participation: a theoretical and empirical perspective in educational sport contexts

Abstract

This study examined the association of Project-Based Learning (PBL) with students’ motivation in physical education (PE) and behavioral intention toward sport participation within an integrated theoretical framework combining Self-Determination Theory (SDT), constructivist learning theory, and social cognitive theory. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design involved 120 secondary school students from eight intact classes, with four classes assigned to PBL (n = 60) and four to traditional instruction (n = 60). The 12-week intervention comprised structured sport-based PBL activities, whereas the control condition used predominantly teacher-centered instruction. Intervention effects were evaluated using linear mixed-effects models (LMM) accounting for repeated measurements and class-level clustering, followed by a baseline-adjusted two-level parallel mediation analysis accounting for students nested within classes. Significant group × time interactions favored PBL for overall motivation (p < 0.001, d = 1.60), intrinsic motivation (d = 1.67), identified regulation (d = 1.35), and behavioral intention (d = 1.48; all p < 0.001). Significant group × time interactions were also observed for psychological needs satisfaction, including autonomy (d = 1.72), competence (d = 1.80), and relatedness (d = 1.62), as well as self-efficacy (d = 1.70; all p < 0.001). Psychological needs satisfaction [B = 0.21, 95% CI (0.04, 0.38)] and self-efficacy [B = 0.16, 95% CI (0.02, 0.30)] showed significant indirect effects on post-intervention motivation, while the direct effect remained significant [B = 0.29, 95% CI (0.04, 0.54)], with a total effect of B = 0.66, 95% CI (0.37, 0.95), a pattern consistent with significant indirect associations. Because the mediators and outcome were assessed concurrently at posttest, these indirect effects should not be interpreted as definitive evidence of causal mediation. These findings indicate that PBL was associated with greater improvements in motivational and psychological outcomes and that psychological needs satisfaction and self-efficacy may represent complementary pathways linking PBL with students’ motivation toward PE and behavioral intentions toward continued sport participation.