The article Goal Structures, Learning, and Physical Education describes the different ways that a Physical education teacher can go about, when teaching their class. The best way to describe goal structure is the way the students physically and verbally interact with each other when trying to accomplish a goal. The way the students interact can be positive, negative or interdependent. To get the most out of the students during each class, there is three different ways (goal structures) that a teacher can use for goal achievement. .
The first type of goal structure that can be used is Competitive. This is when students work against each other in attempt to reach a goal that can only be attained by one student or one group of students. An example of this would be group contests or tournaments. In these types of situations there can only be one winner. This is called negative interdependence because one student or group of student's success is based upon another student or group of students not reaching their goals. Although this is not the best way for the entire class to have positive learning experience, competitive goal structuring is the most popular way for classes to be taught in K-12 physical education classes in the United States. When K-8 physical education teachers were asked which activities occupied the greatest amount of time in their programs, the most common response was competitive games, which mainly included; soccer, basketball, kickball, dodge ball, and relays. Some positive aspects of competitive goal structured class is; character development, enhancement of self-esteem, motivation to achieve, sense of personal achievement through out performing others and maintenance of interest for participants.
The second type of goal structure that can be used is called Individual. This is when students work alone without peer interaction when trying to arrive at a goal.