The influence of a 9-week instructional program on locomotor and object control skill development of preschoolers who are at risk of developmental delay was investigated. The motor skill instruction group (n = 33) received 18, 35-min lessons; the comparison group (n = 30) received the regular prekindergarten program. Pre and posttest scores on the locomotor and object control subscales of the Test of Gross Motor Development (Ulrich, 1985) were obtained. A Group by Gender MANOVA with repeated measures yielded a significant Group by Time interaction. The intervention group performed significantly better than the comparison group from pre to posttest for both locomotor and object control skills. Additionally, this group had significantly higher posttest scores than the comparison group.
Background
The Systematic Observation of Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) was designed to estimate the number and characteristics of people using neighborhood parks by assessing them 4 times/day, 7 days/week. We tested whether this schedule was adequate and determined the minimum number of observations necessary to provide a robust estimate of park user characteristics and their physical activity levels.
Methods
We conducted observations every hour for 14 hours per day during one summer and one autumn week in 10 urban neighborhood parks: 2 each in Los Angeles, CA, Albuquerque, NM, Columbus, OH, Durham, NC, and Philadelphia, PA. We counted park users by gender, age group, apparent race/ethnicity, and activity level. We used a standardized Cronbach’s alpha and intra-class correlation coefficients to test the reliability of using fewer observations.
Results
We observed 76,632 individuals, an average of 547/day (range 155 – 786). Inter-observer reliability ranged from 0.80 to 0.99. Obtaining a robust estimate of park user characteristics and their physical activity required a schedule of 4 days/week, 4 times/day.
Conclusion
An abbreviated schedule of SOPARC was sufficient for estimating park use, park user characteristics, and physical activity. Applying these observation methods can augment physical activity surveillance.
In this article we provide a review of theory and research on the use of peers to influence learning outcomes in physical education. First, we summarize the empirical literature on the use of peers in general education. Next, Piaget’s equilibration theory, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, and Skinner’s behavior analytic theory are discussed with particular reference to their implications for the use of peers in educational settings. This is followed by a review of findings from research studies using peers in physical education settings and includes suggestions for future research. We conclude with a discussion of implications for practice.
Our findings show that the enacted PCK of a teacher can be changed from immature to mature as a function of learning CK and that this change has a significant and meaningful impact on student learning.
Traditional approaches to instruction in physical education have focused on the teacher to provide feedback and assess student learning. In contrast, classwide peer tutoring in physical education (CWPT-PE) uses peers to help provide feedback and assessment. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to assess the effects of CWPT-PE on (a) number of total trials, (b) number and percentage of correct trials, and (c) teacher’s organization of lesson time. Also assessed was the extent to which students could accurately discriminate each other’s performance. Participants were 11 children in third grade who participated in a 20-lesson striking unit. Results show that during the intervention the children performed fewer total trials, generally more correct trials, and had a higher percentage of correct trials than during baseline. Moreover, the CWPT-PE intervention was similarly effective for lower and higher skilled girls. The teacher’s organization of lesson time remained mostly unaffected by the intervention. Finally, students accurately determined each other’s performance more than 90% of the time.
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