The responsibilities of a general physical educator can be challenging and at times overwhelming. Whether teaching a full day of general physical education, or inclusive physical education classes that include a student or multiple students with disabilities, the expectation is that all students will be provided age and developmentally appropriate…

Task cards are instructional tools that combine a picture of a skill with written instructions about how to perform the skill. This article provides practical guidelines for developing research-based task cards for use in physical education classes. Fitness-related motor skills are used as examples to clarify design principles for task cards. The…

Background: It has been observed that physical activity patterns of health-related behavior are established in childhood and may continue into adulthood. Recent findings showing a relationship between the onset of chronic diseases and sedentary lifestyles support the importance of examining Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA). One…

The purpose of this study was to examine prospective physical education teachers' conceptions of caring during their student teaching experiences. This study was conducted through a qualitative research design that included semi-structured interviews, field observations, and document analysis. Four student teachers (1 male and 3 females) from…

Physical educators can enhance students' motivation to learn by collecting portfolios of items that reflect students' skills, understandings, social behaviors, and values. The article explains characteristics of portfolio assessment, discussing how to develop and evaluate portfolios. Brief descriptions of methods and portfolio items, illustrated…

The effectiveness of three basic approaches to sport skills analysis instruction were examined. Ninety-two physical education majors were allocated to four groups and randomly assigned to one of four instructional frameworks: Observational Model (OM), Common Errors (CE), Correct Only (CO), and Control (C). It was hypothesized that the OM group…

Background: Two goal perspectives predominate in achievement settings such as physical education (PE), namely task involvement, focused on self-referenced effort and improvement, and ego involvement, focused on normative ability comparisons. A task (mastery) involving motivational climate is associated with adaptive motivational responses, whereas…

In order to prepare outstanding teachers, it is essential to provide opportunities for teacher candidates to use the theory learned in the college classroom in a "real physical education class." It is difficult to accomplish this when the university has so many physical education teacher education (PETE) majors that they overwhelm a…

In recent years, numerous questions have been raised in correspondence and in conferences about the education of children in grades seven and eight. In response to the interest expressed, the Elementary Schools Section of the Office of Education invited a group of educators representing administrators, supervisors, teachers, and teacher-educators…