A Delphi Study of Effective Adapted Physical Education Practicum Experiences

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine expert consensus regarding the essential characteristics of adapted physical education practicum experiences for preservice physical educators. Researchers used a 3-round Delphi procedure involving the repeated circulation of an online questionnaire to a panel of content experts (N = 24). During Round 1, panelists generated 70 items in response to an open-ended prompt. Then, panelists rated these recommendations on importance and feasibility in the following rounds. After the third round, 23 items were eliminated for failing to reach consensus. Of the remaining 47 items, 24 were both very important and feasible (both means >6), 21 were very important (mean ≥ 6) and probably feasible (mean ≥ 5), and 2 were feasible (mean ≥ 6) and moderately important (mean ≥ 5). Four major themes were identified through a post hoc qualitative cluster analysis: program context, teaching and learning activities, outcomes/soft skills, and evaluation of instructor performance.