Abstract:

Participation of children in physical activity has decreased and the interest in digital games has increased in recent years as a result of development of internet and technological devices. This research has been done in order to determine the motivation of elementary school students for participating in physical activity and digital game motivation. The study group of the research consists of 379 students (197 female students, 182 male students). In the research, "Digital Game Playing Motivation Scale (DGPMS)" and "Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS)" have been used as data collection tools. Kolmogorov Smirnov Test has been used for normality distribution of data. T-Test and ANOVA test have been used for independent samples. In the study, the total physical activity average of primary school students is 56.98 ± 10.79. This average indicates that the sample's physical activity level is high (49-64). On the other hand, the level of digital game play is moderate with an average of 56.73 ± 10.90. Physical activity level has showed significant difference according to age, gender, success, daily digital game play time and daily physical activity level (p < 0.05). Daily digital game scores have showed a significant difference according to age and class level (p < 0.05). A statistically significant and positive correlation has been found between the individual curiosity factor of physical activity motivation and the social acceptance factor of curiosity and digital game motivation (r = 0.104; p < 0.05). In conclusions: Results of regression analysis has proved that age, success, daily digital playing time and daily physical activity levels have significantly contribution to the motivation of physical activity (p < 0.05). These results display that playing daily digital games significantly affects physical activity motivation.

Keywords: