Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine if technique modeling and self-evaluation had an impact on college students’ self-regulation of motoric flexibility, measured through physiological assessments and surveys of stretching practices and beliefs. To measure the impact of the treatments, students were randomly assigned to three conditions: 1) control lecture condition, taught using a scripted lecture format; 2) technique modeling condition, taught using the same script in addition to the researcher modeling proper stretching technique; and 3) technique modeling and self-evaluation condition, taught using the same script and modeling technique in addition to training students to measure their own flexibility. It was hypothesized that the treatment conditions would produce the following linear trend: condition 3 > condition 2 > condition 1 on the outcome measures. The results demonstrated that self-regulation training had a significant positive linear effect on students’ upper body flexibility, stretching practices, outcome expectations, and self-efficacy. Thus, health and physical educators should consider supplementing lectures with self-regulatory opportunities that facilitate self-evaluation.