Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate the structural validity and reliability of a student’s behaviors’ self-evaluation scale (SBSS) in the physical education class. The SBSS was created in order to evaluate the effect of a physical education program in the context of the multicultural composition of the student population in the Greek elementary schools. First, the face validity of items was evaluated, second, the pool of the items selected was factor analyzed. Two hundred and thirty six (N = 236) students, aged 10 to 12 years old (M = 11, SD = 1.38) participated in this study. The participation consisted of 110 (46.6%) boys and 126 (53.4%) girls who attended the 5^th and 6^th grade of primary school. From the participants, 133 (56.4%) were Greeks and 103 (43.6%) were foreigners. Exploratory factor analysis yielded five factors (goals – acquaintances – reward – help – irresponsibility) accounting for 65.2% of the variance. The internal reliability index of the questionnaire was satisfactory. The scale developed in the present study can be a useful tool for the students’ self–evaluation behavior in physical education classes with a multicultural student body. Although the results were encouraging, further research would be very helpful in order to improve the instrument.

Key words: Student’s behavior, self-evaluation questionnaire, multicultural synthesis, physical education.