Bomna Ko

Measuring Preservice Teachers' Knowledge of Instructional Tasks for Teaching Elementary Content.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure preservice teachers’ knowledge of instructional tasks for teaching three manipulative skills in elementary physical education. Method: Data were collected to measure preservice teachers’ entry and exit knowledge of instructional tasks that require selecting developmentally and sequentially appropriate content for elementary students. Preservice teachers from four PETE programs in the United States participated. Descriptive statistics were used to report the data. Findings: The results of this study showed that (a) preservice teachers’ entry and exit levels of task knowledge for teaching elementary content were insufficient and varied across programs and (b) the improvement in task knowledge from entry to exit of the elementary content courses was small. Conclusion: The results challenge the current methods for teaching elementary content in PETE programs. Several research-driven strategies are suggested for promoting preservice teachers’ knowledge of instructional tasks. Subscribe to TPE