Background/Purpose PETE programs must assess Tactical Decision Making (TDM) competencies of teacher candidates for accreditation purposes and student competencies. This can be problematic in large PETE programs when assessing TDM during class time. The purpose of this study was to determine the TDM abilities of PETE candidates in a large PETE program and their ability to collect accreditation data within regularly scheduled class time.
Method IRB approval was obtained and protocols were established to collect data from peers during game play using a talk-aloud technique. Teacher candidates (N = 47) enrolled in two required major/minor courses participated. Data were analyzed using the Tactical-Decision-making Competency framework (TDC) (Pagnano-Richardson & Henninger, 2008). Verbal responses were analyzed, quantified, and averaged for a final TDC score. This final score was categorized as Unacceptable, Acceptable or Target for NCATE purposes.
Analysis/Results Results were aligned with the game classifications of invasion (basketball, soccer) and net/wall (badminton, tennis, volleyball). Acceptable/Target scores were 63% for basketball and 56 % for soccer. Acceptable/Target scores were 77% for badminton; 26% for tennis; and 13% for volleyball.
Conclusions Three main conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, it is possible to collect TDM data within a large PETE program and within the confines of a class. Second, teacher candidates can be taught to collect data and additionally will benefit from a better understanding of tactics. Third, as a form of program review, the process identified teacher candidates' tactical strengths and weaknesses during game play; which in turn will help inform teacher preparation program practices.