Background: The ecology of physical education is created through the interaction of three task systems: managerial task system, instructional task system, and the student social system. Within the ecological framework tasks are presented and task development is influenced by concepts such as ambiguity, risk, and accountability. Teachers' and…

Background: Many of the issues relating to game performance of students found in the physical education literature can be considered a failure of generalization from practices to games, and from games to games. However, no study in secondary physical education has examined generalization effects as a result of effective game pedagogy in the…

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effect of a cross-curricular programme for the teaching of traditional dances on the attitudes and perceptions of Greek pupils in the First Year of Secondary School. At the outset we anticipated that the programme would have positive results in terms of: (a) the pupils' enjoyment of the activity;…

Background: Recent developments in games and sport teaching such as that of Teaching Games for Understanding, Play Practice and Game Sense suggest that they can make a significant contribution toward the development of tactical understanding, ability to read the game, decision-making and a general "sense of the game", yet empirical…

This article describes comparative case studies of 2 of 12 veteran middle school physical education teachers participating in the Assessment Initiative for Middle School Physical Education (AIMS-PE), a reform-based teacher development project. The goals of the project were to help teachers examine and reframe their assessment practices and to…

The efficacy of the "Chase Charlie Races" (an experiential learning activity) was demonstrated via program assessment. This was achieved via post-event evaluations of race participants and student club members, and with fitness assessments of 76 elementary students who participated in an eight-week training program. Paired sample t-tests revealed…

There would appear to be an enduring belief that successful sportsmen and women can act as powerful motivational role models for young people, especially disaffected, disadvantaged or disengaged youth. In the UK, for example, this belief has been expressed recently in the development of programmes, such as changingLIVES, the Respect Athlete Mentor…

Background: To promote regular physical activity (PA) among children and adolescents, authors recommend that physical education (PE) teachers offer their students programmes that would allow them to be physically active outside PE classes. However, such programmes are rarely rigorously assessed and it is recommended that further studies be…

With 17,000 members, NASPE is the largest of the five national associations of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and comprises six Academy Committees (Biomechanics; Curriculum and Instruction; Exercise Physiology; Motor Development and Learning; Sport and Exercise Psychology; and Sport History,…

This study evaluated an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) case study in physical education teacher education from a student perspective. Action research evaluated the impact of a range of ICT options on student teachers' learning to play as well as learning to teach games in a secondary school context. Although multiple media were…

In place of generalist delivery, externally provided physical activity programmes (EPPAPs) are potentially an effective method for offering primary school students specialist physical education (PE) instruction, as well as providing training for generalist classroom teachers. In the present study, a group of generalist teachers were interviewed…

Purpose: In the authors' experience, the biggest issue with pose-based exergames is the difficulty in effectively communicating a three-dimensional pose to a user to facilitate a thorough understanding for accurate pose replication. The purpose of this paper is to examine options for pose presentation. Design/methodology/approach: The authors…

The purpose of this action research study was to better understand and improve my efforts as a Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) instructor to transform the attitudes, beliefs, and understandings of preservice teachers (PSTs) with regard to issues of social justice, specifically by achieving equality by providing opportunities and…

Research has shown that regular physical activity helps to prevent major health problems, such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. However, little research has been conducted on classroom-based physical activity programs for students with disabilities. In North Carolina, the Healthy Active Children Policy was implemented in 2006, requiring…

The study focused on discovering the influence that an autonomous motor task learning programme had on the improvement of perceived competence, intrinsic regulation, incremental belief and motivational orientations. The study was performed with two groups of participants (n = 22 and n = 20) aged between 19 and 35 years. The instruments used were…