Scheduled for Research Consortium Poster Social: Representative Research in HPERD, Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall, Reseach Consortium Poster Sessions


Analysis of Fair Play Instruction on Physical Education Students

Carla Vidoni, Joanna Morrissey and Emily Klamm, Ball State University, Muncie, IN

The culture of physical education in secondary school is often one where student interests are more related to socializing rather than learning the content. Understanding how to use the nature of the social culture of lessons in a way to further instructional outcomes is critical if teachers are to be successful. The problem might be stated as follows: if students are reinforced by the social interactions among their peers, teachers need to find ways to tie this social reinforcement to instruction, rather than have it run counter to the instructional goals of the lesson. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Fair Play Instruction on sixth-grade students during a soccer unit. The intervention consisted of: (a) the teacher, along with the students developing a poster with behavioral cues to be accomplished during the lesson, (b) the teacher prompting students during the lesson in order to increase the frequency of positive behaviors, (c) the teacher praising performances of positive behaviors occurred in the lesson, and (d) during lesson closure, the teacher requesting students to pinpoint peers that exhibited positive behaviors during the class. The participants completed a social validity questionnaire assessing the acceptability of the intervention's goals, procedures, and outcomes. The results showed that the Fair Play Instruction increased students' supportive behaviors and level of active participation. The intervention also reduced the number of inappropriate behaviors during the lesson. In addition, prompts and praise to increase students' active participation were more frequent than prompts and praise to increase supportive behaviors. The primary explanation for this difference can be attributed to the nature of these two behaviors. Active participation behaviors can be constantly prompted and reinforced during the lesson, while supportive behaviors require a specific situation to be prompted and reinforced during the lesson. The social validity questionnaire showed that Fair Play Instruction was considered as a helpful strategy.


Keyword(s): active participation, middle school issues, standards and ethics

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