The Effect of an Intervention on Academic Learning Time Provided by Preservice Physical Education Teachers
This study set out to determine the effect of a training program on the amount of academic learning time in physical education (ALT-PE) provided by student teachers. A treatment group/control group experimental design was used to test the effect of an intervention, and random selection was used in assigning subjects to either group. A total of 50 classes were observed. Descriptive analysis revealed that teachers in the treatment group produced more ALT-PE than teachers in the control group. Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests computed for this comparison showed that the distribution of ranks was significantly different (p<.01). Additional tests produced nonsignificant differences for the distribution of ranks within the variables of skill practice, game, management, and waiting (p>.01). However, the general trend of differences within these variables seemed to contribute to the overall provision of greater ALT-PE for the treatment group. These findings have some important implications for the implementation of theory into practice in the supervision of novice teachers.