The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Play Practice (PP) instruction on the performance of table tennis skills. Fifty-six college students in four intact classes were taught by two instructors using PP and Skill-focused Instruction (SI). A nonequivalent control/comparison group experimental design with pre and post measures was…

The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed analysis of the research literature in physical education for one decade, including data on the research focus (i.e., teaching, teacher education, and curriculum). A database of published research and research-based scholarship was created. Data were coded maintaining 97% or higher agreement…

In this chapter, the authors discuss how the previous chapters has provided so much insight into the ongoing research on professional development of physical education teachers. They further discuss that the introduction of new professional development resources, provided in collaboration with a research university, has allowed teachers to form…

The authors examine the various communities of practice that were formed throughout a teacher development project that included a formal mentoring component. The authors describe a theoretical approach to understanding learning in communities of practice and present an approach for analyzing professional learning resulting from social interactions…

This article examines the critical didactic incidents (CDIs) method used by European researchers in didactics. Originally designed by Flanagan (1954) in psychology, the CDIs method is based on qualitative accounts and analysis of critical moments in the teaching process when content is brought into play. The article reviews the use of critical…

Examines the history of behavioral analysis, particularly experimental research conducted in physical education settings, categorizing 34 studies by focus (preservice/inservice teacher behavior, student learning, classroom management, or learning among students with disabilities in inclusive or adapted settings). While findings have been robust…

Provides an overview of the field of teacher effectiveness research, describing the approaches one professor and his students have taken in their programmatic research examining teacher effectiveness from an ecological perspective of classroom life. The paper emphasizes methodologies, explaining that good data are the key to successful research,…

Critiques Daryl Siedentop's lecture, "In Search of Effective Teaching: What We Have Learned From Teachers," addressing aspects of effective teaching research that appear to be missing from or less evident in Siedentop's work and commenting on Siedentop's overall contributions to the literature on effective teaching in physical education (i.e.,…

Reviews research on the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) approach in physical education, noting that many discussions of TGfU have focused on cognitive and psychomotor learning outcomes and neglected the affective domain. An extended TGfU model is presented, suggesting new avenues for future research and practice (e.g., consideration of…

Presents a new version of the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) model in physical education which draws on a situated learning perspective, describing the TGfU approach, reviewing recent research on TGfU, discussing constructs for conceptualizing learning in games, and outlining a situated learning perspective. This perspective is applied to…

This collection of papers brings together two lines of research about children's knowledge in physical education, one from the University of Massachusetts and the other from the University of Alabama. Both sets of research studies are grounded in a learning orientation, with researchers believing in the importance of studying children's knowledge…

Describes the theoretical framework, methodology, and results of two scientific programs on content in physical education (PE): pedagogical content knowledge and the didactics of PE. Their similarities and differences and each one's contribution to teaching and learning of PE content are noted. Common themes (understanding processes at the origin…

This study identified, categorized, and analyzed 179 published research papers on teaching in physical education (RT-PE). The analysis found that most RT-PE focused on teacher effectiveness and was quantitative. Much of the research met minimum demands of good research, though some needed improvement. (SM)

A study describing and analyzing research on teaching in physical education doctoral programs identified 120 studies focusing on comparisons of teaching methods (55), descriptive research (22), instrument development (16), and comparisons among student subgroups (15). Most research occurred in elementary and secondary schools. (Author/CB)

An overview is presented of the Purpose Process Curriculum Framework (PPCF), designed initially as a conceptual framework for physical education curricular decision making. Information is provided on the development, evaluation, and professional context of the PPCF. (CB)