What and How Preservice Physical Education Teachers Observe during an Early Field Experience

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Abstract
This study was designed to describe what preservice physical education teachers observe and what perceptual processes they use during an early field experience. The subjects were six junior level physical education majors. The introspective research techniques of thinking aloud and stimulated recall interview were used to collect the data. A modification of the constant comparative analytic strategy was used to analyze the data. The analysis revealed that these preservice teachers made observations about students' movement responses, the nonmovement characteristics of students, and organizational tasks and patterns. Students' movement caught the attention of the observers more than any other lesson facet. There was little attention, however, to the detail of movement. The preservice teachers used the perceptual processes of expectancy set, contrast, and evaluation as they observed. Most evaluative observations were made without the supporting criteria for the evaluation being included. The implications for teacher educators include assisting preservice teachers regarding early field experiences to reduce the complexity of the perceptual environment so that they can focus on the detail of movement and not to be evaluative without supporting observational criteria when observing learning.

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