Martial arts, including taekwondo, have become popular in the United States and are being taught in some physical education programs. Unfortunately, martial arts skills in physical education are likely to be taught in a traditional manner (mastering basic skills and performing routines as a large group) and assessed in a closed setting. The…

Twenty-five percent of students in the United States are children of immigrant parents, who are considered English language learners (ELLs). As a collective ELL group, their performance level on every measure from achievement scores to graduation rates tends to be lower than almost any other category of students. With over five million ELL…

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) often experience difficulties with motor skill learning and performance. The pool is a unique learning environment that can help children with ASDs learn or improve aquatic skills, fitness, and social skills. A pool-based approach is also aligned with the elements of dynamic systems theory, which…

Tactical approaches to teaching are, arguably, still under-utilized in physical education settings, and this may be due to the lack of pertinent assessment materials. The purpose of this article is to present a generic invasion-game unit and to link it to a variety of assessment materials using three tactical components from the Game Performance…

Presents strategies that physical education teachers can use to encourage their students to lead physically active lives. The strategies include: focus on lifelong physical activity; use goal setting and self-assessment; inspire students by personal example; model skills (either a teacher or skilled student may do the modeling); and combine…

Reviews traditional approaches to teaching motor skills and introduces the concept of stimulus cuing, a model of attentional focus, and the importance of attentional shifting, also discussing factors that interfere with a performer's ability to focus attention and making suggestions regarding how to use attentional focusing as an effective…

Examines the benefits of incorporating Tai Chi into the secondary and college curriculum to teach balance, discussing: the history and philosophical underpinnings of Tai Chi, principles of Tai Chi movement, health benefits, and teaching Tai Chi in public schools. Tips for instructors include: follow the principles of progression, follow a…

One way to encourage the development of critical thinking in physical education students is to incorporate sports fiction for young adults into the curriculum. This type of fiction can have a powerful effect on young people as they read about situations that they may have experienced or imagined. The article describes how to implement sports…

Explores the significance of engagement as a stance toward teaching and learning, noting how engagement can affect the way teachers and students interact in physical education settings and surrounding environments and presenting activities to encourage engagement (develop performance routines, say and switch, roundtable brainstorm, bubble gum…

Addresses misinterpretations of the teaching games for understanding (TGFU) approach in physical education, providing an explanation developed by working with undergraduate students who wanted to understand what TGFU had to offer. The article explains how the TGFU approach is a tactic-to-skill method to games teaching that synthesizes a tactical…

Discusses specific strategies that elementary school teachers can use to design positive assessment experiences that will motivate their students. Strategies and recommendations are grounded in goal-orientation and cognitive-evaluation theory. The paper focuses on meaningfulness of activities, student improvement, student optimism and confidence,…

Describes several ways to share information with parents about their children's progress in physical education class, noting both traditional and nontraditional reporting methods, discussing standard report cards, and examining newer report cards that are based on stated learning standards and driven by technology. Additional methods of sharing…

Describes a model used by Michigan school districts, in collaboration with Michigan State University, in ongoing program- improvement efforts. The model is intended to help physical education leaders systematically address assessment of core program objectives, collect accurate data that directly affects instruction, then aggregate the data and…

Emphasizes the importance of effective communication in ensuring that deaf children have an appropriate and successful physical education experience, looking at issues related to the psychomotor abilities of deaf children, discussing the need for educational interpreters in the physical education class, and explaining the communication…

Less experienced teachers may present skill tasks to physical education students and athletes in a manner that is too complicated. This paper explains how beginning and intermediate learning of motor skills occur, noting implications for teaching in the verbal-cognitive stage for beginners and the motor- associative stage for intermediate…