Creating a sense of family in urban schools using the "sport for peace" curriculum.

Urban students often have difficulty engaging in the learning process and affiliating with others. A three-phase research design was used to examine the effectiveness of a high school physical education curriculum reform initiative entitled "Sport for Peace" to enhance student engagement and willingness to interact positively with others. Ten physical educators in six urban schools taught a traditional soccer unit (Phase I) followed by instruction and mentoring in the Sport for Peace curriculum (Phase II). In the third phase of the research, teachers developed and taught a Sport for Peace unit to their students. Data were collected using observation and interview methods and analyzed with constant comparison. Results suggested that the Sport for Peace curricular structures fostered shared responsibility for learning, trust, respect, and a sense of family. Both high- and low-skilled girls and boys felt successful and responded positively, creating a class community more conducive to engagement and participation.

Development of an instrument to assess cognitive processes in physical education classes.

Using the mediating process paradigm (Doyle, 1977) as a framework, the need to develop reliable and valid instruments for assessing cognitive processes is apparent, and that was the purpose of this study. Participants (N = 819) completed the Cognitive Processes Questionnaire in Physical Education (CPQPE), as well as three other instruments addressing dispositional goal orientation, perception of motivational climate, and beliefs about causes of success in physical education. The five-factor structure that emerged in an exploratory factor analysis produced an acceptable fit with the data in the confirmatory factor analysis. The subscales of the CPQPE were related to a task-involved goal perspective and the belief that success is attributed to motivation and effort. The results indicate the CPQPE is a valid and reliable instrument that can provide valuable information about the teaching and learning process.

Practice schedule effects on the performance and learning of low- and high-skilled students: an applied study.

This study examined the effects of practice schedule manipulations implemented in an instructional setting on the performance and learning of low- and high-skilled students. College undergraduates (N = 83) enrolled in 5 tennis classes completed a pretest on the forehand and backhand ground strokes, practiced these skills under a blocked or alternating schedule, and then completed a posttest. Results indicated that practice schedule effects on learning were influenced by student ability. Low-skilled students assigned to the blocked schedule had higher posttest scores than those assigned to the alternating schedule, whereas no significant differences were found for high-skilled students. These findings are discussed in relation to previous applied and laboratory-based findings and as a means for manipulating practice difficulty in teaching physical education.

Value orientations of preservice teachers.

Curriculum theorists have acknowledged the critical role that beliefs and values play in the decisions that teachers make, but very little is known about how teachers' value profiles develop. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the educational value orientations of a group of physical education preservice teachers (N = 16) enrolled in an elementary methods course and to investigate the link between value profiles and teacher behaviors. Value profiles were assessed using the Value Orientation Inventory (Ennis & Hooper, 1988). The results indicated that teachers in training entered field-based experiences with defined value profiles, but that these profiles were not stable constructs. Priorities within competing value orientations fluctuated over the course of a semester. Possible explanations for the changes that occurred and implications for teacher education programs are discussed.

The impact of student goal orientation in physical education classes.

The theory of achievement motivation suggests that students whose goals are related to the mastery of a task are more likely to engage in adaptive patterns of behavior such as choosing challenging tasks and focusing on effort. Students whose goal orientations are ego-involved are more apt to avoid challenge and be unwilling to expend effort. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact that goal perspective has in physical education classes. Subjects (N = 90) were college students in beginning tennis classes. They completed a skill pretest and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (Duda, 1992). A system of contract grading was employed to yield an indication of students' selection of challenging tasks. The points earned toward the contracts were used as an indicant of in-class behavior. At the end of the semester, students completed a skill posttest and a cognitive processes questionnaire. A task-involved goal perspective was associated with the selection of more challenging tasks and positive scores on the questionnaire. Those two variables, in turn, were significant predictors of student achievement. The results suggest that goal perspective could be an important influence on students' thought and action in physical education classes.