The Impact of a Handball Teaching Unit on Students' Game Play Competence: an Action Research-Based Intervention

Main Content

Author(s):

Luisa Estriga(submitting)Paula Batista(presenting)António Ferreira Cunha Mariana Graça Amândio

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

18. Research in Sports Pedagogy

Format:

Paper

Session Information

18 SES 10 A, Innovative Pedagogical Approaches in Physical Education and Sport

Paper/Poster Session

Time:

2017-08-24

15:30-17:00

Room:

K3.23

Chair:

Antonio Calderón

Contribution

Over the past decade, several authors have pointed out the need for a tactical approach to teaching and learning invasion team sports. Therefore, new models have been designed that stand out not only on the instructional methods and strategies but mainly on the nature of the privileged contents. Amongst these we identify Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU; Bunker & Thorpe, 1982), Sport Education (Siedentop, 1994), Tactical Games Model (TGM; Griffin, Mitchell & Oslin, 1997) and Game Sense (GS; Light, 2004). Later on a combination of the previous models emerged, namely the competence model in invasion games (Musch, et al., 2002; Graça, et al., 2006). The new trends emphasizes the need for authentic learning experiences, and more comprehensive knowledge of the game, breaking with traditional approaches based on teaching skills taken out of the context.

Notwithstanding the various contributions, research papers, and the critical thinking on the traditional approaches, it appears that the teaching practices of Handball remain largely unchanged. Additionally, the instructional process tends to concentrate on the practice and improvement of the technical skills, giving little value to the tactical understanding of the game and the ways of playing it.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using a tactical and comprehensive approach to teach handball at school.

Method

The study was a research-action project concerning the usage of Invasion Games Competence Model (Mush et al., 2002) to teach handball at high school level. This experience occurred during the Practicum (Master in Teaching of Physical Education in Elementary and High Education), in the school year 2015-16. The study involved a pre-service teacher from the Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, from the scholar year 2015-16, a specialist of handball didactics (from the university), two supervisors (one from the high school and other from the university) and the students of a PE class from the 9th grade class of a high school from the Porto region. The PE class was composed of twenty students (11 male and 9 female. The pre-service teacher was in charge of the class. This experiment comprised 11 teaching sessions (with 45 min. or 90 min each, alternately), all of which were videotaped respecting the ethical canons in place (authorizations, anonymity, etc). All students were equipped with heart rate monitors and triaxial accelerometers to quantify the physical exertion during the practice, and to compare it among the different modified game forms (4x4, 5x5, and 5+x5). For evaluating the learning progression of the essential skills and global game performance, a specific observation form was developed based on the Game Performance Assessment Instrument (Oslin et al. 1998). The teaching unit and each teaching session were carefully designed, to guaranty appropriate handball content, and class organization. Regular meetings between the pre-service teacher and the handball didactics teacher were done to continuously improve the instructional process. In the first lesson the main goal was to examine the students game play competence. Taking into account the game problems and difficulties observed, the learning objectives and the modified game forms applicable were defined. After this session it was decided to split the class into three homogeneous teams that should self-organize. The teaching unit was planned as a sport season, with regular training/preparation sessions or competition. When there was match, besides the two teams playing a third one was responsible for the officiating, statistics and refereeing tasks. Considering the students’ game play competence, number of students, teaching unit extension, and school conditions, specific basic game forms were adopted, as recommended by Estriga and Moreira (2014). A final interview was done with the PE students, about the experienced teaching-learning process concerning the handball game. The interview was audio recorded.

Expected Outcomes

This experience reinforced the value of knowing and understanding the game one wishes to teach, mainly the fundamental tactical problems and associated teaching situations. This is the basis that allows teachers to adequate the game complexity and learning tasks to the students’ level. This was one of the main difficulties revealed by the pre-service teacher in charge of the class. The main results from the interviews were the general recognition of the team role and the appraisal of the experience. From the development of competences viewpoint, the preliminary results are a visible progress in the understanding of the game, the role of the pivot and of the defensive cooperation as means for improved efficiency. From an exertion point of view, the preliminary results show an increase in the involvement of the participants, possibly as a result of a better understanding of the game. With the final results of this work (still under processing) we also expect to evaluate and compare the pedagogical value of the introduced modified game forms.

References

Bunker, D. & Thorpe, R. (1982). A model for the teaching of games in secondary schools. Bulletin of Physical Education, 5-8. Retrieved from G:10 Estriga L.& Moreira I. (2014). O Ensino do Andebol na Escola: Ensinar e Aprender. Faculdade de Desporto: Universidade do Porto. Griffin, L., Mitchell, S. & Oslin, J. (1997). Teaching sport concepts and skills: A tactical games approach.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Light, R. (2004). Implementing a game sense approach in youth sport coaching: Challenges, change and resistance. Waikato Journal of Education, 10, 169-180 Mitchell, S. (1996). Tactical Approaches to Teaching Games: Improving Invasion Game Performance. JOPERD, 67:30-33. Musch, E., Mertens, B., Timmers, E., Mertens, T., Graca, A., Taborsky, F., Remy, C., De Clercq, D., Multeal, M., & Vonderlynck, V. (2002). An innovative didactical invasion games model to teach basketball and handball, presented on cd. In M Koskolou (Ed.), Proceedings of the 7th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science. Athens, Greece: Pashalidis Medical Publisher, European College of Sport Science. Oslin JL, Mitchell SA, Griffin LL (1998). The game performance assessment instrument (GPAI): development and preliminary validation. Journal of Teaching Physical Education, 17(2):231–243. Siedentop, D (1994). Sport Education: quality PE through positive experiences. Champaign, Illinois: Humam Kinetics.