Investigating Knowledge Acquisition and Developing Misconceptions of High School Physical Education Students

Grounded within constructivist theory, the purpose of this research study was to investigate knowledge acquisition and developing conceptions of high school-aged students during a physical education badminton unit of instruction. When conceptions held by learners are unlike understandings held by scientists and experts, they are considered misconceptions (Abimbola & Baba, 1996; Clement, 1993). The qualitative research objectives for this study included: (a) identifying student misconceptions that developed during units of instruction, (b) exploring the influence of teachers' instructional strategies on developing conceptions, and (c) examining the suitability of methodological techniques implemented in this investigation with regard to unveiling student understandings. Two different classes of high school students (including four key primary participants from each class) and their teachers were selected to fulfill the participant role. The badminton instructional units occurred over a period of four weeks. Six different qualitative methodological approaches were employed as a means of collecting information about student knowledge acquisition. The methods used included: (a) lesson observations, (b) formal interviews (including video segment interviews with primary participants), (c) informal interviews, (d) primary participant think aloud technique, (e) Daily Question Card (DQC) responses, and (f) analysis of written documents. Findings were reduced into thematic categories representing misconceptions about: (a) motor skill execution, (b) official badminton rules, (c) strategies utilized in badminton, (d) complex concepts, and (e) teacher instructions. The results indicate that instructional clarity is of great importance when investigating knowledge acquisition. When teachers were unclear in their directions, a greater number of misconceptions were observed. Lack of teacher monitoring and assessment of student learning also were found to contribute to the development of misconceptions. When teachers spent an increased amount of time covering fewer concepts, students appeared to more easily construct accurate knowledge. Consistent with the constructivist perspective, students were active agents in their own learning; filtering new knowledge through prior knowledge acquired from previous experiences. With regard to methodological procedures, the most valuable technique was live observation. Formal and informal interview and DQCs also were suitable techniques for acquiring insightful data. The think aloud procedure and document analysis generated only a limited amount of insight.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Kinesiology and Community Health

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Hare, Molly Kay

Contributors dc:contributor

• Graber, Kim C.

• Education, Physical

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9990015

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/86433