Physical Education Teacher Candidates’ Competence in Invasion and Net/Wall Games

1. Physical Education Teacher Candidates’ Competence in Invasion and Net/Wall Games Skip M. Williams, Ph.D., Mary L. Henninger, Ed.D., Margo M. Coleman, Ph.D., Kristin B. Carlson, Ph.D. Illinois State University, Normal, IL • Introduction • NASPE (2009) recently called for physical education teacher candidates to “demonstrate competent movement performance…as delineated in the NASPE K-12 Standards”. • Competence in sport-related games refers not only to the performance of a particular set of skills, but also to knowing what to do and when to do it in the complex context of game play (Grehaigne, Richard, & Griffin, 2005; Grehaigne & Godbout, 2001; Thorpe, Bunker, & Almond, 1986). • According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE, 2004; 2008) a competent mover is someone who is both skillful and capable of making appropriate tactical decisions during game play. • Purpose • The purpose of this study was to determine if physical education (PE) teacher candidates possess the knowledge and skills necessary to demonstrate competent movement performance. • Methods • Participants & Setting • 116 Physical Education Teacher Education majors • All participants were from 1 Midwest university • Participants were enrolled in two required major courses: • Teaching Team Sports • Teaching Individual/Dual Sports and Activities • Instrumentation • Process/product rubrics were designed by the primary investigators to assess participant skill level. • Tactical understanding was assessed through the Tactical Decision-making Competency (TDC) framework (Pagnano-Richardson & Henninger, 2008) during game play. • Procedures • All TDC data for invasion, and net/wall games were collected during game play. • Game play was stopped randomly three times for basketball, soccer and volleyball. • For tennis game play was stopped three times after 4 serves. • Badminton game play was stopped three times after a 4 contact rally (excluding the serve). • During the three times game play was stopped participants responded to the following two questions: • “What were you thinking about during game play?” • “Is there anything else?” • All TDC data were collected by peers (trained) and recorded verbatim on score sheets. • All skill performance data for basketball, soccer, and volleyball were collected during game play. • Tennis and badminton skill performance data were collected during individual skill drills. • All skill performance data were collected and recorded by peers (trained). • Data Analysis • The TDC data was coded into levels (1-4) (Pagnano-Richardson & Henninger, 2008). • The participants’ coded scores, ranging from 1-4 on the TDC scale for each comment, were summarized and averaged to arrive at a final TDC score for each participant for each sport. • The four levels of the TDC and skill scores were aligned with the NASPE descriptors of Target, Acceptable, and Unacceptable. • Participants’ skill scores for each sport were aligned with NASPE descriptors of Target, Acceptable, and Unacceptable. • Participants were classified as being a competent mover or not competent based on their classification of TDC and skill for each sport. To be considered competent in a particular sport activity, participants had to score in the "Acceptable" or higher range for both skill performance and TDC. • All data were compared based on percentages of participants who were classified as a competent mover. • Results • Percentage of participants classified as a competent mover based on sport. • Results Cont… • Percentage of participants classified as a competent mover • based on game classification. • *Note: Volleyball was not put into either classification due to the fact the volleyball students did not participate • in either Badminton or Tennis • Percentage of participants whose TDC score was a hindrance to • being classified as a competent mover. • Conclusions • Pre-service teachers are in need of continued tactical knowledge and skill development instruction throughout their PETE programs. • Findings indicate that skill and tactics are content specific therefore it is important to assess teacher candidates’ skill and tactics in a variety of game forms. • Future Recommendations • Examine more than one skill within Badminton and Tennis. • Examine product outcomes of the skills within basketball, soccer and volleyball. • Examine the need for PETE programs to teach for the development of tactical knowledge of teacher candidates and the role that TDC development plays in becoming a “competent” mover. • Key References • Grehaigne, J., & Godbout, P. (2001). Tactical knowledge in team sports • from a constructivist and cognitivist perspective. Quest, 47, 490- • 505. • Pagnano-Richardson, K. & Henninger, M. (2008). A model for developing • and assessing tactical decision-making competency during game • play. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, • 79(3), 24-29. • Thorpe, R., Bunker, D., & Almond, L. (1986). Rethinking games teaching. Loughborough, U.K.: University Technology, Department of • Physical Education and Sport Science. ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITYvSCHOOL OF KINESIOLOGY & RECREATION