The Effects of ARCS Motivational Instruction in Physical Education on Learning Cognition and the Health-Related Physical Fitness of Students

The environment in metropolitan regions along with other factors such as changes in lifestyle and academic pressure can result in students reducing the time they spend pursuing outdoor activities. An increase in sedentary lifestyles and lack of physical activity seriously threaten the health of students, due to reduced physical fitness. To solve this issue, cultivating exercise habits should commence from childhood. Physical education in schools is the best time to cultivate the development of a wholesome body and mind in students. Students need to have high flexibility, strong learning ability, and regular exercise in schools for their future physical and mental development, the establishment of an exercise regimen, and the cultivation of motor skills. For this study, university students in Sichuan Province were chosen as research samples, and 500 copies of a questionnaire were distributed among them. After removing invalid and incomplete questionnaires, 375 were deemed valid, a retrieval rate of 75%. The research results demonstrated significant positive correlations between (1) the Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction (ARCS) motivational instruction in physical education and learning cognition, (2) learning cognition and health-related physical fitness, and (3) ARCS motivational instruction in physical education and health-related physical fitness. The study results suggest that a good exercise regimen boosts students' self-confidence, increases their motivation to participate in physical activities, enhances their health-related physical fitness, and cultivates habits to engage in lifelong physical activity.