This thesis presents three research studies on fundamental movement skills (FMS). The thesis aims to provide insight into FMS teaching and learning in primary school physical education (PE) and to examine the effectiveness of a school-based intervention that can improve FMS proficiency among primary school children in Hong Kong. The first study (Chapter 2) examined the relationships between FMS, perceived physical competence, perceived movement skill competence, enjoyment, and physical activity (PA) among primary school children in Hong Kong. The differences among these variables in terms of gender and grade level were addressed, as well as FMS acquisition and mastery levels among primary school children from grades one to six were reported. Their results revealed that locomotor skill competence had an indirect effect on self-reported PA through perceived physical competence and enjoyment after adjustment for age, gender, and body mass index. Overall, children exhibited low levels of FMS proficiency and moderate-to-vigorous PA. Students from higher grade levels, particularly girls, had lower levels of perceived physical competence, movement skill competence, and enjoyment as compared with younger students. The second study (Chapter 3) examined the current FMS teaching practice in primary school PE. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach to explore the views of teachers and students on their experiences of PE for FMS development and on the motivational climate in PE. The quantitative data demonstrated that students' active time during FMS class was low. Teachers spent a large amount of time on instructions and management but spent a small amount of time to engage the students in movement skill activities and games. Thus, students were prevented from remaining physically active during FMS practice throughout the lessons. The interviews with the students also indicate that the PE lessons offered are not effective enough to provide a broad range of game-related movement

This study investigated the fundamental motor skill proficiency of Hong Kong children ages 6-9. Ninety-one male and 76 female Chinese students (mean age = 7.6 years) from six local primary schools in Hong Kong participated in this study. The Test of Gross Motor Development-Second Edition (TGMD-2) was administrated to assess the mastery of gross motor skills by an experienced physical education instructor. The performance was videotaped, and it was rated by the same physical education instructor again (1 week apart) to show the reliability (0.88-0.97). Results showed that the participants were in general superior to the normative samples from the TGMD-2 manual, scoring a gross motor quotient (GMQ) of 56.8-80.9. Overall, 24% of the participants were rated as superior, 36% as above average, 47% as average, and 2% as below average. Excellent proficiency (>80% in every subitem) was observed in running, galloping, leaping, sliding, catching, and throwing skills. In comparing the results with other studies, we found that the participants were superior to the data reported in previous studies in United States, Brazil, and Australia. This study added valuable information to the establishment of a worldwide normative reference for the comparison of future studies in other countries.
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