Background: Within a socio-constructivist perspective, this study is situated at the crossroads of three theoretical approaches. First, it is based upon team sport and the tactical act model in games teaching. Second, it took place in dyadic or small group learning conditions with verbal interaction. Furthermore, these interventions were based on cooperative learning (CL) models. The cultural context is the French school curriculum, so it emphasizes the role of sports as social practice and uses the applied concept of French didactic transposition. It took place in a socio-constructivist perspective of the teaching-learning process and extends the notion of debate-of-idea. Purpose: This article explores the role of CL in a Physical Education (PE) classroom setting and particularly the role of verbal exchanges among peers in team-sport teaching. Research design: This article reports two interventions. The first study showed the positive effects of discussions within a team in an adapted basketball game. Seventeen boys and 13 girls from a French school (third and fourth grades), all novices in basketball, were assigned to two independent groups of a two (Learning condition) design. Dependent measures included collective game efficacy and individual skill levels. A second study concerned an instructional setting of a handball team game (two attackers against a defender in each half of the ground) with 11-12-year-old girls. Two groups were constituted by learning condition: symmetrical versus dissymmetrical dyads. Data collection and analysis: During PE lessons, verbal interactions were filmed and recorded for the two studies. Matches were filmed in study 1, while data in study 2 were collected by an expert on an observation worksheet. ANOVA were conducted in both studies. Results:The two studies showed that oral discussions between peers about the goal and the strategies of the game facilitated the development of motor and tactical skills. The second study showed the superiority of a slightly dissymmetric dyadic condition. The low-skilled pupils in dissymmetrical dyads obtained more benefit from the verbal interactions than those in a symmetrical setting. In the dissymmetrical condition, while the initially low-skilled participants had the highest rate of progression, the initially high-skilled players had to explain their solution and could also benefit from the dyadic interaction. Conclusion: In both studies, action rules were constructed by peers' verbal exchanges in a reflective way. In a PE socio-constructivist setting, the teaching of games facilitates mutual aid, social relationships, and participation in community activities. IntroductionOur work is situated at the crossroads of various theoretical and instructional approaches: socio-constructivism, games teaching, learning in dyads or small groups, and cooperative learning (CL). The cultural context of our work is that of Physical Education (PE) in France, so it emphasizes the role of sports as social practice and the applied concept of French didactic tran...

This article is grounded in social constructivist perspectives of learning: its purpose is to provide an overview of the ‘ Interactions Sociales et Acquisition’ (ISA) [Social Interactions and Acquisition] French group’s research that examines how a peer-assisted learning (PAL) group context facilitates students’ acquisition of motor and social skills in physical education (PE). Issues addressed include the pairing of students in dyads and how training them to endorse tutor and tutee roles facilitates students to work in small groups. The effects of peer interaction on social relations and the inclusion of students with special needs are also overviewed. Findings regarding the influence of student interactions on learning were derived using a variety of data collection methodologies, including quantitative data used to test the effectiveness of various interactive procedures and qualitative analyses of verbal protocols to better understand the interactive dynamics involved in such learning devices. The ISA work highlights the complementary value of both of these methodological approaches for studying group work effects. ISA findings suggest that PE teachers prepare students for functional interaction group work by taking into consideration the students’ characteristics (like gender or desire for control) in the constitution of dyads and then effectively training the tutors to deliver the expected content. Cooperative learning (CL) contexts also provided a viable alternative for facilitating the inclusion of students with disabilities or those with lower initial skill levels.

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Résumé Cette étude vise à montrer l’influence de la forme de groupement (symétrique versus dissymétrique) sur des performances décisionnelles en sport collectif chez des jeunes-filles de 11–12 ans en cours d’Education Physique et Sportive. La situation d’apprentissage coopératif est une alternance de montées de balle à deux attaquants contre deux défenseurs au handball et d’interactions verbales dyadiques. Les résultats montrent de meilleures performances au post-test pour une mesure déclarative et au post-test différé pour une mesure procédurale des sujets ayant interagi en condition dissymétrique. Les progrès sont plus forts chez les sujets initialement faibles en dyades dissymétriques. Les résultats sont approfondis par une analyse conversationnelle portant sur le contenu propositionnel et la dynamique interactive des dyades.

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