La actuación docente en clase: novedad, motivación e intención de ser físicamente activo en escolares

Physical inactivity during adolescence is a public health problem in Mexico, and physical education is the only curricular setting in which all students systematically engage in motor practice. The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships between students' perception of the teacher's task presentation, novelty need satisfaction, autonomous motivation and the intention to be physically active in Mexican primary and lower secondary school students. A cross-sectional correlational design with non-probabilistic convenience sampling was used. A total of 390 students (218 boys and 172 girls) aged 11 to 14 years (M = 12.76; SD = 0.91) from the metropolitan area of Aguascalientes, Mexico, completed four previously validated Likert-type scales. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha coefficients and Pearson correlations were computed, and three nested structural equation models were tested. Task presentation was positively associated with novelty need satisfaction (β = .77; p < .001), which in turn was associated with autonomous motivation (β = .78; p < .001), and autonomous motivation was associated with the intention to be physically active (β = .67; p < .001), whereas the direct path from task presentation to intention was not significant (β = .07; p > .05). This pattern is consistent with full mediation of this relationship through novelty satisfaction and autonomous motivation (standardized indirect effect = .40), suggesting that presenting tasks in a clear, varied and stimulating manner may constitute an applied pathway for fostering the intention to remain physically active.