Examination of Student Cognition and Instruction of Domain-Specific Lesson Goals

Abstract

This study examined preservice teachers’ instruction of goals in specific learning domains in physical education class and students’ in- terpretation of these goals. Four preservice physical education teachers (all male) from a large urban university taught two lessons to eight sixth-grade students at an urban K–6 elementary school. The theory of cognitive mediation was the framework for this study. Piloted qualitative methods included video recordings of each lesson, stimulated recall, two 20-to-25-min semistructured interviews, and collected lesson plans. Data were analyzed through the constant comparative method. Three major themes emerged: goals for incorporating skills into game play were difficult to identify, affective goals were not explained, and cognitive goals were not implemented. Results indicate that teacher- training programs should develop strategies that will assist students to identify the domain goals of the lesson. This study indicates specifically the areas in which domain goals are lacking during the instructional process.