The process of effective teaching--teaching that directly leads to student learning of standards-based content--is tenuous at best and easily disrupted by contextual and behavioral factors. In this commentary, I discuss the role of student support and mediation in teacher effectiveness and curricular reform. The most vocal students in physical…

A coherent curriculum is characterized by visible connections between purposes and experiences so that students acknowledge the content's immediate value. This study examined an exemplary elementary physical education curriculum for coherence components. Research questions examined the role of coherence in connecting and engaging students…

The curriculum may superimpose a content-specific context that mediates motivation (Bong, 2001). This study examined content specificity of the expectancy-value motivation in elementary school physical education. Students' expectancy beliefs and perceived task values from a cardiorespiratory fitness unit, a muscular fitness unit, and a traditional…

The author discusses a line of research examining the acquisition, organization, and use of knowledge associated with conceptual change in which she is engaged at the University of Maryland. It builds on foundational research by scholars in science, mathematics, and reading education as well as in motor learning and physical education pedagogy,…

Constructivist physical education emphasizes cognitive engagement. This study examined the impact of a constructivist curriculum on in-class physical activity. Caloric expenditure in metabolic equivalents (MET) and vector magnitude count (VM) data from a random sample of 41 constructivist lessons were compared with those from a random sample of 35…

This study investigated how gender-related perceptions and actions influenced junior and senior high school students' constructions of reality in curriculum-in-action physical education. Observations and interviews indicated that most students both reproduced and resisted gender-patterned life configurations in physical education classes…

Existing physical education curricula in five schools were investigated for the presence of movement purpose concepts. Formal, perceived, experiential, and operational curricula were studied. Twenty-one of 22 purpose concepts were documented. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)

Ninety physical education teachers completed the Value Orientation Inventory to determine the extent to which they made consistent decisions regarding student learning goals within five educational value orientations. Results indicated that 97 percent made consistent curricular and instructional decisions within one or more value orientations. (SM)

Physical education teachers who exhibited one of two orientations (disciplinary mastery/learning process or ecological integration/social reconstruction) were interviewed to examine the extent to which their value orientations influenced their stated goals for student learning and their expectations for academic performance and behavior. Goals and…

Discusses the development of content knowledge in movement-based curricula. Researchers examined knowledge structures in groups of preservice physical educators, comparing them with those of elementary physical educators expert in movement-based approaches. Results suggest declarative knowledge develops in complexity from novice to expert within…