Elementary Students' Perceptions About Written Work in Physical Education

Purpose

A goal of physical education is to involve students in the construction of health-related fitness concepts in order to become “physically educated” (NASPE, 2004). To this aim, students need to be involved actively in the personal construction of knowledge. Constructivist-based learning approaches involving processes such as exploring and comparing, and activities such as journaling, allow students to make personal connections to content (Vygotsky, 1978). The purpose of this study was to examine fourth and fifth grade students' conceptions about a cardiovascular fitness unit from a science-based physical education curriculum. More specifically, it sought to determine the possible influence of student journals (commonly used in general, but not in physical, education) on student learning.

Methods

Students (n=27) from one fourth and one fifth grade classroom were interviewed, in eight focus groups, both prior to and after instruction in the 10 lesson unit. Multiple lesson observations (n = 20) served as the basis for the interviews. The physical education teacher was interviewed informally throughout the process and formally interviewed at the end of the unit. Data were analyzed using open and axial coding and triangulated across data sources.

Analysis/Results

Three salient themes emerged, relevant to the use of journals by students during physical education. First, many students and their teacher saw the journals as a valuable tool in assisting students to learn important physical education content. For example, Brooke felt the journals are “fun” because they are “very interesting, you get to learn things”. Second, students enjoyed using journals as a method for tracking personal data and measuring progress, both in and out of class. For example, Ephram said “I like the book [journal] because…if we were doing the little PACER thing, then I can check myself out and see how many I missed and then see how to do better the next time.” Third, some students displayed resistance to writing in physical education. These students, mostly from 5th grade, felt that physical education should focus more on playing than writing. For example, when asked if she liked the journals, Scarlett responded “Not really…because it was too much work.”

Conclusions

It became apparent that journal writing was not “work” to students when the information was relevant to them. It is commonly believed that students will participate more in physical activity when they understand it more and see its relevance. Understanding, then, how students interact with cognitively-focused curricula can assist physical educators to design personally-relevant lessons.