Can physical education and physical activity outcomes be developed simultaneously using a game-centered approach?

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a pilot intervention using a gamecentered approach for improvement of physical activity (PA) and physical education (PE) outcomes simultaneously, and if this had an impact on enjoyment of PE. A group-randomized controlled trial with a 7-week wait-list control group was conducted in one primary school in the Hunter Region, NSW, Australia. Participants (n = 107 students; mean age = 10.7 years, SD 0.87) were randomized by class group into the Professional Learning for Understanding Games Education (PLUNGE) pilot intervention (n = 52 students) or the control (n = 55) conditions. PLUNGE involved 6 x 60 min PE lessons based on game-centered curriculum delivered via an in-class teacher mentoring program. Students were assessed at baseline and 7-week follow-up for fundamental movement skills (FMS) of throw and catch, game play abilities of decision making, support and skill performance; in-class PA; and enjoyment of PA. Linear mixed models revealed significant group-by-time intervention effects (p < 0.05) for throw (effect size: d = 0.9) and catch (d = 0.4) FMS, decision making (d = 0.7) and support (d = 0.9) during game play, and in-class PA (d = 1.6). No significant intervention effects (p > 0.05) were observed for skills outcome during game play (d = -0.2) or student enjoyment (d = 0.1). Game-centered pedagogy delivered via a teacher professional learning program was efficacious in simultaneously improving students' FMS skills, in-class PA and their decision making and support skills in game play

Making a Difference

A Guide to the Education-related Recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

Developing a framework for the assessment of musical learning: resolving the dilemma of the 'parts' and the 'whole'

Recent debate within the domain of music education has focussed on issues of discriminating between higher and lower quality learning outcomes. Much of this debate has centred on the language of music education, particularly in giving both substantive and psychometric meaning to terms as diverse as ‘the craft of music’, ‘musical skills’, ‘originality’, ‘musically convincing’, and ‘convincing development of ideas’. Moreover, in the search for standardisation in music assessment, much of what is conventionally described in assessment criteria reduces musical assessment to quantifiable competencies often not indicative of the higher-order musical thinking underlying the production of these competencies. That is, assessment often fails to resolve the dilemma of the ‘parts’ and the ‘whole’. In this paper we propose an assessment framework based upon a synthesis of current text processing theory with Biggs and Collis’ (1982) SOLO Taxonomy. We propose that musical assessment should primarily be sensitive to the quality and structure of music thinking. We argue that musical learning, like other domains of learning, can be analysed for evidence of structural quality and coherence, and that such evaluations may provide viable diagnostic as well as summative information about musical outcomes