The effect of knowledge of scientific principles on running a maze

One hundred fifteen seventh grade students from Millikan Junior High School were subjects from three physical education classes for the purpose of investigating the effect of the knowledge of scientific principles on the running of a maze. It was hypothesized that a knowledge of scientific principles of motion would not affect the learning process of the gross motor skill of running a maze. The study was conducted in a period of three days. All of the students were pre- tested on a twenty-five yard run and then each of the three physical education classes were randomly selected for the treatment. The classes were designated as Group I (principles only), Group II (principles applied specifically to the maze) and Group III (control). On the first day each group received a different lecture and then ran the maze. The groups later completed four additional trials on subsequent days. The analysis of variance technique was used to determine if any significant differences occurred between the groups or within the groups on the trials. The hypothesis that a knowledge of scientific principles of motion would not affect the learning process in the gross motor skill of running a maze was rejected for trial 1 but was accepted for trials two through five.