Lynn Dale Housner

Teacher Cognition: Differences in Planning and Interactive Decision Making between Experienced and Inexperienced Teachers

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to describe the decision making processes employed by experienced and inexperienced teachers as they planned for and taught two lessons in physical education. Eight elementary physical education teachers with five years or more of teaching experience and eight elementary teachers in training thought aloud as they planned two physical education lessons subsequently taught to four elementary school children. Following each lesson, the decision making strategies employed during interactive instruction were accessed using a stimulated recall technique. Results indicated that, when planning, experienced teachers made more decisions concerning strategies for implementing instructional activities than did inexperienced teachers. During interactive teaching, experienced teachers focused most of their attention on individual student performance, while inexperienced teachers attended most frequently to the interest level of the entire class of students. The findings ind...

Relocating from Easy Street: Strategies for Moving Physical Education Forward.

There is broad consensus in the literature that despite dramatic gains in the knowledge-base regarding best practice in teaching, teacher education, and related pockets of effective programming in the schools, the majority of physical education programs are in disarray. In a recent article, Kretchmar (2006) referred to this dilemma as life on “Easy Street” with most physical education programs being characterized by short instructional units that afford students little chance to develop the knowledge, skills, fitness, or positive dispositions needed to maintain a physically active lifestyle. At best this approach entertains students and informs them about the health benefits associated with regular physical activity while providing limited opportunities to experience these benefits and achieve significant learning or personal growth. In the present article we propose that the problem is a complex one and as such requires a multidimensional approach to making substantive and meaningful change in school physical education. The metaphor of relocating physical education from “Easy Street” is used to delineate strategies that can be employed by teachers, teacher educators, and professional organizations to make this change possible.

Conceptual Maps and Simulated Teaching Episodes as Indicators of Competence in Teaching Elementary Mathematics

Network representation was used to assess knowledge obtained during a teaching methodology course in elementary mathematics. Participants were the course instructor, 4 teacher educators, and 53 prospective teachers. Relatedness ratings on key terms were used to construct associative networks. Teacher educator networks shared significant similarities to the course instructors network, and similarities between the teacher educator and prospective teacher networks were as predictive of course grades as similarity to the course instructor. Fourteen of the prospective teachers participated in a simulated teaching task. Network similarity predicted teaching for conceptual understanding, as did final course grade, and was more predictive than were either exams or lab scores. The advantage of associative networks may be in representing patterns of concept relations underlying mental models of teaching.

Future Directions for Research on Expertise in Learning, Performance, and Instruction in Sport and Physical Activity

In reading and responding to the articles included in this theme issue of Quest, it becomes clear that there has been a burgeoning interest in research on expertise in sport and physical activity. An increasingly sophisticated knowledge base regarding both the nature of expertise and the constraints that limit the development of expertise has begun to accumulate. Despite the progress that has been made, the empirical database on pedagogical and motor experts remains limited; each of the articles provide more questions pertaining to expertise than findings. Our assessment is that the authors were successful in illuminating the necessity for continued research. In the sections that follow, we will attempt to describe a few of the many possible directions that research on expertise in pedagogy and sport learning might take.

Curriculum Alignment: A View from Physical Education Teacher Education.

JOPERD • Volume 79 No. 7 • September 2008 B efore the 1960s the mission of university-level physical education programs was defi ned as the preparation of professionals for careers in teaching and coaching and, for the most part programs were accepted and supported as being central to a university’s focus. Throughout the early part of the 20th century, the fi eld of education in general has been criticized as being weak, and educational research was thought to be superfi cial and fragmented (Flexner, 1930). Others freely labeled physical education programs as low in status and lacking in intellectual substance and grounding in sound scientifi c principles (Conant, 1963). In response to these criticisms, Franklin Henry (1964) defi ned physical education as an academic discipline and identifi ed several subdisciplinary areas, such as exercise science, motor behavior, and biomechanics. During the mid-20th century, other changes were also taking place in higher education, especially at research institutions, and these resulted in major shifts in the criteria used to judge the value of faculty members. Scholarly writing and research gained strength in the reward system while, at the same time, teaching and service received less recognition. With research and scholarship being viewed as critical for faculty success, and with the creation of subdisciplinary groups having a high degree of specialization, the traditional charge of preparing teachers was expanded to include the generation and dissemination of knowledge about all aspects of physical activity. New names for departments appeared, and the scope of programs was broadened to include the preparation of students in a wide range of allied health professions. Specialization increased when many faculty members in the subdisciplines chose to focus their research, teaching, and service on relatively narrow areas of study. The shift toward scholarship and a broader defi nition of the fi eld served to strengthen the position of many faculty members, but also created tension between teacher educators and scholars in the subdisciplines. One unfortunate consequence of the move toward more specialization was that many programs scaled back what were believed to be crucial components of a teacher education curriculum to make room for the science coursework. In an ideal world, physical education teacher education (PETE) programs would provide prospective teachers with subject-matter knowledge related to the physiology, anatomy, and neuromuscular structures of the body and an understanding of how these systems Curriculum Alignment: A View from Physical Education Teacher Education

The Role of Imaginal Processing in the Retention of Visually-Presented Sequential Motoric Stimuli

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of imagery in the short term retention of complex, visually-presented movement sequences. Twenty-eight high visual imagers (HIGHS) and 29 low visual imagers (LOWS) viewed and subsequently reproduced movement sequences consisting of eight component moves. Subjects reproduced six such sequences in each of two randomly ordered retention conditions: (1) rehearsal and (2) distraction. Half of the HIGHS and LOWS received instructions to employ imaginal processing strategies, while the other half received no such instructions. Analysis of the data indicated that HIGHS exhibited significantly higher free recall scores than LOWS. In addition, free recall of movement for all subjects was significantly disrupted following performance of a visual distraction task. The findings suggest that visual imagery may have played a functional role in the free recall of modeled movements. However, there was no indication that imagery was involved in the reten...

Wax on, wax off: pedagogical content knowledge in motor skill instruction.

Abstract Transforming subject matter and presenting it to students in comprehensible forms requires the use of alternative strategies such as analogies, metaphors, examples, demonstrations, and simulations.

Failure and revival: physical education and youth sport in China

The physical health of citizens in China has declined in recent years. The provision of quality physical education, health education and youth sport programmes to more than 200 million students in grades 1 to 12 is tremendously challenging. Specific challenges are (1) sufficient funding for Ti Yu, (2) laws, (3) knowledge base, (4) time, (5) new curriculum reform, (6) youth sport and (7) teacher-coach preparation/training. The revival of physical health in China involves sound strategies, practices and fitness standards that have begun or are to be implemented. These include (but are not limited to) (1) World Health Organization recommendations, (2) collaboration between China and international scholars/agencies, (3) new Ti Yu science knowledge in Chinese languages; (4) exemplary health, physical education and youth sport curriculum materials, (5) preparation of quality physical education teachers and youth sport coaches and (6) a dedication to the revival of physically active, healthy lifestyles for students in China.

Addressing Physical Education Teacher Socialization Through Standards-based Reform of Physical Education Teacher Education

ABSTRACT Research suggests that progress in the physical education profession is slowed by a cycle of nonteaching and dominance of traditional methodologies. Socialization factors operate to preserve and perpetuate the status quo of the profession, which is rooted primarily in team sport content. Teacher education programs are challenged to persuade pre-service teachers to question their initial belief structures while also preparing them for the sociopolitical realities of schools. There is not, however, a formal mechanism through which to accomplish these goals, because current accreditation standards do not include an emphasis on socialization. As a result, the purpose of this article is to stimulate further discussion by reviewing relevant research related to socialization, describe evidence-based practices for overcoming these challenges, and propose an addition to the Society of Health and Physical Educators America (2017) standards for initial physical education teacher education to specifically focus attention on socialization issues.

The Influence of Weight Change on Physical Fitness from Childhood to Adolescence

ABSTRACT The study aimed to explore how weight changes from childhood to adolescence influenced the performances of physical fitness. The participants (N = 115) were pre-tested when they were in kindergarten, first, or second grades (mean age = 7.25). The same participants were post-tested again after 6 years. The President’s Challenge test battery was used in the study. A repeated measure multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to examine the effects of time and body mass index (BMI) change on participants’ fitness performances. Results showed that participants who maintained normal weight made greater improvements in the performances of sit-ups, flexed-arm hang, and shuttle run tests than those who became or maintained overweight/obese weight status. Additionally, children who maintained normal weight were 6.21 times more likely to achieve healthy fitness zone (HFZ) standards for the 1-mile run post-test. The findings highlight the importance of maintaining normal body weight during elementary school years in achieving better physical fitness.