Both developmentally and instructionally appropriate content for the specific learners is a key foundation for quality physical education (COPEC, 1992). Ward (2009) identified knowledge of task progressions as one of the specialized content knowledge that teachers should develop for teaching. Yet many physical education teacher education (PETE) programs do not emphasize developing preservice teachers’ specialized content knowledge in their content courses (Ward et al., 2011). The literature to date has not shown demonstrable associations between the content learning contexts and the resultant effects on student learning in PETE. The purpose of the study is to compare preservice teachers’ ability to analyze elementary content within different learning contexts.
Method:
Three instructors who are teaching elementary content courses and 53 PETE major undergraduates in their classes participated in this study. From each instructor’s survey responses and course materials, three distinct learning contexts were identified (i.e., modeling, peer teaching, and lecturing). The instructors taught regular classes using their typical instruction. The participating students were requested to complete the elementary content analysis form at the beginning and end of the course. We collected student data (i.e., the number of tasks, appropriate/correct task statements, and developmentally/sequentially appropriate tasks for teaching the three manipulative skills) using a developed coding template.
Analysis/Results:
Student data were analyzed using One-way ANOVA. There were no statistically significant differences among the three groups in the mean of students’ total pre-test scores (F (2, 50) = 2.916, p = 006). However, there were statistically significant differences among the three groups in the mean of students’ total post-test scores (F (2, 50) = 70.553, p = .000). Students’ total pre and post-test scores were similar within the learning contexts that allowed students to teach the content to their peers or where content was delivered by the instructor through lectures. However, students’ total post-test scores were approximately twice as great as the pre-test scores in the learning context where the instructor modeled exemplary activities for specific age groups.
Conclusions:
The manner in which content courses are structured makes the learning process more appropriate for the acquisition of content knowledge in PETE (Ayvazo, Ward, & Stuhr, 2010). The current study indicated how instructors should create a focused learning environment that allows preservice teachers to develop more specialized content knowledge in the elementary content courses in PETE.