1. Implementation of a Personal Fitness Unit Using PSI
Steven Prewitt, PhD1 , James C. Hannon, PhD2, Gavin Colquitt, EdD3,
Tim Brusseau, PhD4, Maria Newton, PhD4, & Janet Shaw, PhD4
1Texas A&M University – Commerce, 2West Virginia University, 3Georgia Southern University, 4University of Utah
Introduction
Procedures
Results
Conclusion
Traditionally, secondary physical education teachers utilize a direct instruction model (DI) (Bauman et al., 2009). While DI can be effective, consistent decreases in student motivation, participation, and health-related fitness (HRF) highlight a need to examine other potential instructional strategies.
The PSI model was originally designed by Dr. Fred Keller in the early (Keller, 1968), and has five distinct characteristics: 1) Self-pacing, 2) Mastery learning, 3) The teacher as motivator, 4) Emphasis is written word (workbook), and 5) Using proctors for the majority of assessments.
Having demonstrated to be an effective teaching method in other academic fields, research on PSI within physical education is limited (Pritchard, Penix, Colquitt, & McCollum, 2012) with the majority of research focused on collegiate activity courses. A few studies have examined this instructional model at the secondary level with success (Hannon, Holt, & Hatten, 2008; Pritchard, Penix, Colquitt, & McCollum, 2012).
With the potential for PSI to be a highly effective instructional strategy for secondary physical education, the purpose of this study was to examine the fidelity of implementing a personal fitness unit utilizing the PSI model at the high school level.
Prior to the start of the study, students were given a brief outline of PSI and instructed in the use of workbooks, electronic devices (DVDs, laptop, etc) and given a brief outline of PSI.
Students were also instructed to complete the first module before moving on to any other module of their choosing.
Videos with audio were taken twice weekly for analysis.
Using confirmation criteria (Fig 1), results were calculated to determine fidelity of PSI
It was hypothesized that 9 out of 12 (75%) design features would meet predetermined criteria
Primary results shown in Figure 2
10 out of 12 (83%) features met
Two features not met included use of cues and task related feedback
Potential reason for not meeting criteria could be not using proctors in this study
High rate of practice time (97.7%) can lead to increased motivation and skills (Stodden, Langendorfer, & Roberston, 2009)
The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation of a personal fitness unit using PSI. The results from this study showed that 10 out of the 12 features investigated met the confirmation criteria for PSI signifying successful implementation.
Limitations in this study included
Took place 2nd semester
Predominately male class
Lack of PSI experience with classroom teach
This research adds to the minimal literature available investigating PSI’s use in high school physical education and can serve as a foundation for future studies.
Figure 2 Verification of PSI Implementation
Figure 1 Confirmation Criteria (Cregger & Metzler, 1992)
Future Studies
Use of tablets rather than paper and pencil workbooks
Examine different sports and activities
Bibliography
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Cregger, R., & Metzler, M. (1992). PSI for a college physical education basic
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Hannon, J. C., Holt, B. J., & Hatten, J. D. (2008). Personalized systems of instruction
model: Teaching health-related fitness content in high school physical
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Keller, F.S. (1968). Good-bye teacher… Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1),
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Pritchard, T., Penix, K, Colquitt, G., & McCollum, S. (2012). Effects of a weight
training personalized system of instruction course on fitness levels and knowledge.
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Stodden, D., Lnagendorfer, S., & Roberton, M.A. (2009). The association between skill
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Participants
Participants included 25 (males=21) high school (9-12th grade) students (Mean age= ± 0.86 SD) from a suburban private school in the Mountain West region of the United States