3 An empirical study of the application of psychological principles to the teaching of orienteering

Abstract

In criticism of teacher-training courses, Stones (1978Stones ( , 1981 advocates that many of the problems can be tackled, if not solved, by a study of pedagogy, incorporating in particular those concepts and principles from psychology that indicate how pupil learning can be enhanced and made enjoyable. In this way it is argued that genuine links can be made between theory and practice. Psychopedagogy is concerned with the study of how the learner acquires new concepts, skills and understanding, and how the teacher can arrange the learning environment to bring about meaningful learning, and takes the pupil's learning as the criterion of teacher competence.This paper reports an attempt to apply psychopedagogical principles to the teaching of orienteering to children, aged 11 years, as a form of action research. The content is concerned with the solution of problems involving a fundamental aspect of navigation, that of deciding in which direction one should travel. Analysis of the teaching task reveals the need for pupils to possess the concept of a bearing, the psychomotor skill to measure and travel on a bearing, and the skill to decide whether the application of this knowledge is appropriate to the solution of a particular problem. The teaching reveals that the pupils acquire the skills and concepts as a result of the teaching, and implications for classroom instruction, pupil assessment, the self-evaluation of teaching and teacher training are drawn.