Principal Investigator: Kathleen Stanton-Nichols, Associate Professor, Department of Physical Education, School of Physical Education and Tourism Management
Co-investigators: Mark Urtel, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education, School of Physical Education and Tourism Management; Lisa Angermeier, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education, School of Physical Education and Tourism Management; and Brian Culp, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education, School of Physical Education and Tourism Management
Project Title: Measuring the Effectiveness of Systematic Student Assessment Via Teacher Work Samples and Service Learning Reflection on Pre-service Physical Education Teachers Knowledge, Skill, and Disposition Acquisition
Funding Level: $4,982.45
Abstract:
As students traverse through a curriculum, faculty efforts should produce students who are knowledgeable about their discipline, have good foundational skills, and model early teacher dispositions (e.g., excitement, motivation, etc.). A guided curriculum which is thoughtful and distinct in its’ purpose should easily produce such a student. However, as T.S. Eliot proclaimed, people often “have the experience but miss the meaning” or in our case, students fail to connect meaning to an overarching theme of civic engagement. Student failure to miss the meaning may in part be how courses are taken, failure of faculty to purposely identify key elements across courses, or students who mistakenly assume courses are independent bodies that do not carry over. While students in IUPUI’s physical education teacher education (PETE) program (we include health education in our PETE program) have been successful in passing courses, faculty have noticed a distinct lack of connection between knowledge, skills, and dispositions especially as they enter into their student teaching experience. Additionally, our program has struggled to meet national certification requirements threatening our ability to offer a teacher education program. The purpose of this project is to enhance existing improvements made to the PETE program further improving our student assessment and learning. Specifically, our aim is to investigate how our theme of service learning and civic engagement assists in students’ knowledge, skills, and beginning teacher education dispositions.