Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2829-590X

Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Applied Human Sciences

Department

Not Listed

Committee Chair

Emi Tsuda

Committee Co-Chair

Eloise Elliott

Committee Member

James Wyant

Committee Member

Sean Bulger

Committee Member

Patrick Hairston

Abstract

There is limited research that has examined the factors that influence the selection of content for high school physical education. Addressing this gap in the literature is important, as those decisions influence student attitudes and engagement in physical education. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, this study aimed to explore what factors influence high school physical education teachers’ decision-making processes when selecting content to include in their curriculum (phase one). Second, this study investigated the facilitators and barriers to selecting and teaching the content areas suggested in the SHAPE America (2013) High School Grade-Level Outcomes (phase two).

This study employed a case-selection variant of the explanatory sequential mixed methods research design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018), consisting of two strands of data collection: quantitative (phase one) and qualitative (phase two) data. Participants for phase one consisted of 95 Virginia, public, high school physical education teachers who participated in an electronic survey. A purposive subsample of nine participants were selected from phase one participants to engage in semi-structured interviews, based on defining demographics and their choices for content selection.

Phase one results indicated that most teachers prioritize content from the games and sports categories (n = 70; 74%) or fitness categories (n = 21; 22%), with very few participants signifying that they prioritize content from other activity categories (n = 4; 4%). Additionally, moderate, positive relationships occurred between perceived content knowledge of a content category and frequency taught in that content category in three content category areas: individual performance (rs = 0.417, p < 0.001), outdoor pursuit activities (rs = 0.559, p < 0.001), and dance and rhythmic and frequency taught in the dance and rhythmic (rs = 0.419, p < 0.001) activity categories. Weak, positive correlations existed in the fitness activities (rs = 0.325, p = 0.001) and aquatics (rs = 0.312, p = 0.002) categories. Additionally, there were statistically significant differences, with moderate effect size (z = - 2.13, p = 0.34, r = 0.048) between the two groups when reporting the influence of student interests on their content selection. Through phase two results, five themes emerged regarding factors that were perceived as influential to content selection: (a) teachers' beliefs regarding the purpose of high school physical education and student learning outcomes, (b) teachers' content knowledge and instructional confidence, (c) teachers' perceptions of students' needs and interests, (d) the inherent challenges stemming from large class sizes and limited access to resources, and (e) the opportunities and challenges linked with collaborations among colleagues.

The findings in this study suggest that achieving alignment between the intended and taught curriculum requires a greater focus on enhancing teachers' expertise through meaningful professional development, reducing class sizes and equipping physical education programs with adequate facilities and equipment.

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