Syllabus Information

1.1. Introduction

This 3 ECTS course takes part of the basic preparation for teachers of ​​Physical Education.

It proposes to maintain a useful approach which is based on teacher’s working reality in high school. Evaluation, research and innovation take part of the whole task of a teacher who should frequently face them up in order to renew or improve their practice, or to contribute to the community with new main advances.

2.1. Learning goals

1: Students will be able to distingue and explain the main paradigms and models of educative evaluation, innovation and research, and its relation to physical education teaching and its immediate surroundings, or broader contexts.

2: Students will be able to apply scientific methodology and basic technical research, innovation and educational evaluation techniques in order to design evaluation and teaching innovation projects and educational research projects.

3: Students will be able to identify the relevant aspects of bibliographic and documentary resources related to teacher evaluation, educational innovation and research in the field of Physical Education. Students will be able to apply those resources to the basic design of projects concerning evaluation, innovation and research.

4: Students will be able to prepare, present and defend an innovation, research or teaching evaluation project, which will take as a reference one of the most common teaching official announcements in our region. Students will be able to demonstrate theoretical, practical and formal capacity to adapt the project to the announcement and have success into that. 

5.3. Syllabus

The course will address the following topics:

Section 1. The educational innovation

Topic 1. The professional innovation: a possibility or a necessity?

• 1.1. Innovation: terminological and conceptual approach from the Humanities and Social Sciences.
• 1.2. Typology of educational innovations.
• 1.3. The innovative approach as a way for professional development and life-long learning.
• 1.4. Practical considerations about professional innovation.

Topic 2. Collaboration as a method in the innovation process.

• 2.1. Teamwork as a means to carry out innovation.
• 2.2. Collaboration as the basis of the process.
• 2.3. Critical guidelines to the development of collaborative work.
• 2.4. The facilitator role in collaborative work.

Topic 3. Calls and examples of educational innovation in physical education.

• 3.1. Calls for educational innovation and structure for teacher training.
• 3.2. Examples of innovation projects (I). Innovation through the development of curriculum materials for different contents of PE in the secondary compulsory educative system.
• 3.3. Examples of innovation projects (II). Research on physical activity levels.
• 3.4. Physical activity and gender as research topic.
• 3.5. Examples of innovation projects (III): Evaluation of programs; curricular organization skills; Improving teaching intervention.

Section 2. Research in physical education

Topic 4. Research in physical activity.

• 4.1. Conceptual clarification: science, research and scientific method.
• 4.2. Science research paradigms of physical activity and sport.
• 4.3. Research in Physical Education. Qualitative and quantitative research in physical activity.
• 4.4. Methods and research designs in physical education: descriptive, explanatory, predictive, experimental, quasi-experimental, systematic observation.
• 4.5. Examples of application of different methods and designs to topics related to physical education. Analysis and discussion.
• 4.6. Overview and characteristics of qualitative methodology.
• 4.7. Research designs in qualitative methodology.
• 4.8. Criteria credibility of qualitative methodology.
• 4.9. Techniques and instruments in qualitative research methodology.
• 4.10. Elaboration of the research report.
• 4.11. Planning, organization and development of analysis and data processing.