As
we move quickly toward summer break, the "down-time"
afforded many of us in the teaching profession (although it
seems like summer sure goes by quickly!) allows the opportunity
to take a step back from our schools to really think about
changes we might make to enhance our programs come fall of
2011.
All of us would like to be more organized, have smoother
running programs, and ultimately excite more of our young
people to play sports and exercise when they leave our program.
Every professional website, journal, or conference provides
dozens of interesting ideas that should spark the imagination
of teachers. One such strategy to consider when taking that
step back is to apply the "action
research" model to proposed changes.
Action Research
Unlike the more traditional academic research we might read
about, being conducted in a controlled university setting,
action research takes place in actual schools with in-tact
classes and conducted by the teacher in that school. While
we might not expect to see action research projects discussed
as groundbreaking or revolutionary, as they are not designed
for publication, neither should we dismiss them as having
little value. Rather, for K-12 teachers trying to wrestle
with real-world problems in their actual work setting, the
action research model provides a viable option to analyze
changes made within programs to gauge their merit. Additionally,
the students you are studying in an action
research project are the same ones who will benefit from
changes you make to your teaching.
In the recent book, Seminar
in Physical Education: From Student Teaching to Teaching Students
(available from Human Kinetics Publishers) Drs. Susan Lynn,
Darla Castelli, Peter Werner, and Stephen Cone share that
action research fits the "Planning-Acting-Observing-Making
Judgments" reflection cycle. That is, first "plan"
by defining an issue or problem you want to address and a
strategy to address it, second "act" by implementing
your plan, third "observe" the results of your strategy
with systematic data collection, and fourth "make judgments"
about the outcome of your strategy and its implication for
future teaching (hence the "cycle").
The
authors provide several examples of potential action research
projects including student apathy and enthusiasm, student
grouping, and corrective techniques which do not negatively
impact student morale, among others. For the purposes of this
article, I will share three action research sample ideas that
might spark your interest.
Management Strategies. Perhaps you are thinking
about a new management strategy to help your classes run smoother.
Elementary physical educator, Steve Shelton of Christiansburg,
Virginia, designed his "PE Points" contingency management
system (see sample poster at the end of this article) to reward
positive PE behavior for both groups and individual students.
In Steve’s own words,
PE Points is designed around a reward system intended to
function as reinforcement. The reward is contingent on the
behavior of part of the group (i.e., 1 point for 2 students
randomly selected displaying outstanding behaviors), and
the behavior of everyone in the group (i.e., 1 point if
everyone in the class wears athletic shoes and another point
if everyone works hard).
I have discovered one of the most important features is
choosing a reward strong enough to serve effectively as
a positive consequence (i.e., the playing of widely popular
games or student-designed stations). At the beginning of
each month I count how many visits each class will have
in PE. If a class visits 9 times, for example, then their
maximum score would be 27 points. I use 85% as a benchmark
for successfully earning enough monthly PE Points. So, this
class would have to accumulate 23 points or more to earn
their reward. (Personal communication, May 11, 2011).
The wearing of appropriate shoes was something that really
bothered Steve because his school required students to "sit
out" if they did not have proper shoes, and the youngsters
only receive PE twice a week. After endless notes home and
appeals to students to remember shoes, he knew he had a problem
that needed an interesting solution. He initially collected
some simple data to determine both how many students in a
single class, on average, did not bring athletic shoes to
class, and how many classes across a week (of the 40 he teaches)
were impacted by one or more students not bringing appropriate
shoes.
This data collection only magnified the problem in Steve's
eyes. After developing his PE Points system, Steve shared
it with each class emphasizing the collective responsibility
each individual student had for both themselves (bringing
the correct shoes, trying hard, and displaying positive behavior)
and the group (everyone had to be on their toes as he did
not identify before class began the two students he selected
to observe). Using his roll book, Steve kept a spreadsheet
of points throughout the month, and would remind each class
every day where they stood with their points relative to their
monthly goal.
What he discovered was that many classes started to "self-manage"
with classmates reminding each other to bring shoes, try hard,
and behave appropriately because they wanted their reward
at the end of the month. Steve has confided that one of the
hardest aspects of the success with the system has been using
the last day of the month for popular games and student-designed
stations, because he sometimes thinks of these as "lost"
days that he could have used for other lessons. But, since
he had designed the system and the youngsters met their goal,
he had to follow through with their reward.
The design of the PE Points reward system was an offshoot
of a graduate class Steve was completing as part of his master's
degree from West Virginia University, yet his mind is constantly
spinning with ways to improve his program in systematic ways.
I know he is already researching another issue or concern
he would like to examine next year.
Use of Technology. Maybe you've thought
about trying GPS units, heart rate monitors, a Nintendo Wii
or new Microsoft Kinect
for the XBOX. Sixth grade physical educator, John Pierce of
Radford, Virginia wanted to try more ideas with a classroom
set of heart rate monitors. He and I developed an action research
project examining the impact on heart rate response of two
different teaching styles (one relying more on large group
games and the other on small-sided teams) within an ultimate
Frisbee/football unit. While John and I basically discovered
the teaching style had little to do with the heart rate response,
rather some individual youngsters tended to play harder than
others regardless of the teacher's approach.
That finding in and of itself was not real earth shattering
nor surprising as I am sure most teachers could identify a
similar pattern in their own school. Yet, we also realized
that many of those youngsters often thought to be lazy or
unmotivated found the use of the heart rate monitors interesting
enough to want to raise their heart rate even when the game
itself was uninteresting. John also discovered, through trial
and error, some thought-provoking management techniques when
using the monitors that have since helped him record other
fitness and assessment data. Thus, the use of action research
is something he expects to revisit next year with a new issue
or problem.
Team Sport Teaching Strategies. In my last
contribution to pelinks4u in March of this year,
I discussed the positive aspects of teaching a team sport
unit with a small-sided modified games approach. Essentially
a small-sided approach makes sense for many physical educators
because it mimics the ways we've learned sports ourselves.
I argued that most of us did not start off playing full-sided
games in organized leagues, but rather we learned with our
family and friends in games that used whatever the number
of players were available at that time (and if more or less
kids showed up that day, we somehow adjusted and made it work).
The more I work with teachers in middle and high school settings,
I am even more convinced the small-sided approach would benefit
a majority of PE programs, as it also mimics the way many
coaches practice in the afternoon with their school sports
teams. Ask a coach why he or she uses practice drills with
less than a full-sided team and they'll probably give you
an exasperated expression that clearly shows that you do not
understand that practicing with a smaller number increases
the amount of practice repetitions for an individual player.
To which I say…bingo!
As in March,
I encourage you to read over the Kern and Calleja (2008) article
advocating a three-on-three teaching approach to maximize
participation of all students, and also providing greater
opportunity for personal and social responsibility because
students need to learn to self-officiate and resolve conflicts
within their smaller groups. Perhaps next year is the year
you consider trying a small-sided approach to teaching a team
sport unit.
Using an action research approach, might you be able to determine
if your students in a floor hockey unit, for example, have
greater skill development because they receive a greater number
of practice opportunities with the smaller teams, learn to
make better game play decisions because the smaller teams
require a greater number of passes, and perhaps they even
enjoy the game better because more goals are scored because
you choose to not even use goalies.
Perhaps, instead, you try a new team sport such as Kin-Ball,
Tchoukball,
or Tseg-Ball
to infuse some much needed energy into your program. Might
action research provide you a systematic look at how successful
one of these new games meets your goals?
Concluding Thoughts
As we move into summer, first off, congratulations on what
I hope was another successful year. Yet, once you recover
some energy, I encourage you to take a step back and think
about some issues, concerns, or problems that you might try
to address with an action research project that helps you
move your program forward.
Works Cited
Kern, J. & Calleja, P. (2008). Let’s play three
on three. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and
Dance, 79(6), 31-34.
Lynn, S.K., Castelli,
D.M., Werner, P., & Cone, S.L. (2007). Seminar in
physical education: From student teaching to teaching students,
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
As
we move quickly toward summer break, the "down-time"
afforded many of us in the teaching profession (although it
seems like summer sure goes by quickly!) allows the opportunity
to take a step back from our schools to really think about
changes we might make to enhance our programs come fall of
2011. 
