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Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
ERIC Number: EJ726466
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 13
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0899-1510
EISSN: N/A
Effects of a Sports Camp Practicum on Attitudes toward Children with Visual Impairments and Deafblindness
Lieberman, Lauren J.; Wilson, Sandy
RE:view: Rehabilitation Education for Blindness and Visual Impairment, v36 n4 p141 Win 2005
Physical activity is an important component of a positive quality of life for all individuals. Lack of physical activity can lead to increased risk of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. For all children, physical activity that includes fitness (cardiovascular and muscular endurance, muscle strength, flexibility, and body mass index), motor skills, aquatics, and recreation is important. For children with visual impairments, increased socialization and levels of self-determination prove to be additional benefits. Children with visual impairments and deafblindness have the same potential for motor skills and fitness as their sighted peers, yet lack of opportunities, limited expectations, and lack of training lead to developmental delays and decreased levels of fitness. A recent study by Lieberman, Houston-Wilson, and Kozub (2002) determined that general physical education teachers' lack of knowledge and experience concerning children with visual impairments and deafblindness was the biggest barrier to including those students in physical education classes. In the absence of that knowledge and experience, the teachers did not feel that they could successfully include these children in their classes. This study described in this article was designed to determine if attitudes of preservice teachers would change after a 1-week practicum with children with visual impairments and deafblindness. The intervention was a 1-week developmental sports camp for children with visual impairments and deafblindness. The authors sought to answer the following questions: (a) Would a 1-week practicum significantly increase attitudes of preservice teachers toward their ability to teach these children? (b) Would there be any differences in attitude between graduate and undergraduate students? and (c) Would there be a difference in attitude between men and women? Participants included 27 university students (physical education teaching majors, adapted physical education teaching majors, and fitness-wellness degree candidates) from eight universities in the eastern United States. The 27 participants included 16 undergraduate students and 11 graduate students, of which 16 were men and 11 were women.
Heldref Publications, Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, 1319 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036-1802. Web site: http://www.heldref.org.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A