Can cooperative learning be effectively used with elementary P.E. classes to increase quality skill practice?

Seminar Title

Can cooperative learning be effectively used with elementary P.E. classes to increase quality skill practice?

Can I effectively use cooperative learning models in physical education to increase skill practice.

2nd Grade

Elementary

Phys. Ed.

All Disciplines

Have you ever wondered how your students would respond if they worked together in cooperative learning groups everyday? I am excited to share my research because I was able to create a more student-centered class where my students’ time on task and engagement in skill practice significantly increased. As I started my research, I was initially looking to see if cooperative learning would work to increase skill development in my elementary P.E. classes. What I found was that most of the research I read focused more on C.L. model’s ability to incorporate social and emotional skills into P.E. lessons through face to face social interactions. Research also suggested that using C.L. models increased students intrinsic motivation and overall positive experiences in P.E.. As I implemented these strategies, I tried to use it every day no matter what kind of unit or activity we were doing. Some activities were better suited to small groups, some were better suited to partners, where I used variations of cooperative learning, such as peer-assisted learning. I organized students into mixed heterogeneous groups for these activities. I believe my research is relevant to all grade levels and all disciplines because the use of cooperative learning can be used with any grade and any subject. So, if you are interested in hearing how I incorporated this model into my classroom and be part of a dialogue with other educators, hear what they have done, share what you have done and generally gain some insight and ideas that you can use with your own classes, this will be a fun session for you! Please join me if you have used cooperative learning and are willing to share your experiences or if you never have and would like to hear others experiences!

How can cooperative learning models be implemented into elementary P.E. to improve instruction and practice? I wanted to learn how I could apply cooperative learning instructional models that would help me be more efficient and effective as an elementary P.E. teacher. My plan was to try implementing each of the strategies I learned about during my research based on what I think was most applicable to the activity, unit and learning goals being taught. Some of these strategies included using cooperativel learning groups, peer-assisted learning, peer-assesment, peer-tutoring and tactical games. I chose which strategy to use based on the nature of the unit/activity we were doing. Some activities worked better with groups and some worked better with partners. I organized these activities in a way to get students to interact with each other for the desired outcome. My data analysis process was pretty simple: I look at the frequency, total amount of off-task behaviors and number of students off task. Then, I compared these numbers using whole class activities to these numbers when using cooperative learning activities. The other part of my research was to compare the amount of skill repetitions students were getting in a normal class when doing whole group activities compared to C.L. activities. I used informal observation and written student-surveys also as a way to measure student motivation. Students in cooperative groups increased the amount of skill repetitions by an average of about 4 times compared to the same lesson being taught in a whole class organization, this varied depending on what kind of activity we were on. The amount of social skill repetitions also increased by approximately the same but I found that the intentional way that students had to interact with each other increased the quality/learning value of the face to face interactions with respect to practicing pro-social interactions. Students' perceived motivation increased dramatically using C.L. Implementing the strategies from my research was exciting. It allowed me to finally apply some of these ideas and new strategies. I was excited that I was embedding strategies into every lesson to purposefully give students opportunities to practice social and interpersonal skills while working on their physical locomotor skills in my P.E. environment. Seeing kids have more motivation and show more investment in the activities was rewarding.