Impact of a sport education season on students’ table tennis skills and attitudes in China’s high school

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of sport education model on students’ skills and attitudes in table tennis course in high school. Sixty-four students (aged 16–17) from a senior high school in China participated in either a 16 lesson unit using the traditional sport model (TSM) (n = 28), or a 16 lesson season following the sport education model (SEM) (n = 36).The results indicate that both classes made significant improvements in their skills, while SEM students made more progress in forehand drive and serve than TSM students did. In addition, students in SE class also developed more positive learning attitudes and became more interested in table tennis class. Compared with TSM, SEM provides students with equal opportunities of game playing and skill practicing with their teammates for a long season. These opportunities allow students to built affinity with their teammates and experience the joy of game. The interest of learning is therefore inspired, causing better table tennis skills and learning attitude.