Putting Research to Work in Elementary Physical Education

- Features 30 clear summaries of studies on elementary physical education instruction, class management, program design, workplace conditions, and more
- Includes practical tips for navigating the typical research report to improve the ability of teachers to glean new ideas and useful facts from research
- Shows the differences between the vantage point of the researcher and that of the teaching practitioner, and how to find the common ground between the two
- Covers new teaching strategies, measuring instruments, and program alternatives—and how to think about teaching physical education in more sophisticated ways

This textbook and reference provides teachers with valuable insights for using research to improve their teaching. Putting Research to Work in Elementary Physical Education: Conversations in the Gym lets readers eavesdrop on a career-long conversation between a well-known scholar and a top-notch teacher who have a combined 75 years of professional physical education experience. Together they take a close look at 30 studies to help educators learn how to glean valuable information from research.

The book opens a window into the minds of 69 scholars as they puzzle about teachers, students, and programs. Readers do not need a highly technical vocabulary, advanced scientific or mathematical knowledge, or a detailed background concerning research methods. The authors have provided “translations” in the form of brief, nontechnical annotations that teachers and other nonresearchers will actually enjoy reading. Each study is briefly described and then commented on from a researcher's perspective, a teacher's perspective, and finally, a shared perspective.

The 30 reports address important, practical issues recognizable to anyone familiar with what happens in a physical education class. The book shows how the studies can be useful to teachers in their own work, and it points out how valuable information from research can be used to improve teaching.

The book also demonstrates how stimulating and fruitful dialogue can be when the knowledge of researchers and practitioners is brought together around a single study. By discussing each study from both perspectives, the book sheds light on the common ground between researchers and physical educators and fosters mutual respect between the two. The varied perspectives can also provide a valuable springboard for thought-provoking discussions among colleagues in a school setting or in a graduate-level physical education course.

The book presents 12 guidelines that will help readers navigate through the difficult aspects of the typical research report, plus four annotated bibliographies to help readers explore topics that are more specific and more advanced.

No other resource makes such a diverse group of studies so accessible. If educators are to put research to work in their own teaching methods and program designs, there's no better place to start than with these straightforward “conversations in the gym.”

Lawrence F. Locke, PhD, is professor emeritus of education and physical education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has written extensively on the application of research to teaching and teacher education, and he has authored several books about how to plan and fund educational inquiry as well as how to understand research reports.

As a teacher, graduate advisor, and consultant, Locke has supervised many studies of physical education. Much of his work has focused on the use of the qualitative research paradigm in the study of teachers, teaching, and teacher development. He recently received the Clark Hetherington Award for lifetime achievement in scholarship and service from the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. He also was honored when the American Educational Research Association's annual selection of the outstanding doctoral dissertation in physical education was designated as the Lawrence F. Locke Award. His numerous awards include the NAPEHE Dudley Allen Sargent Scholar Award, the NASPE Curriculum and Instruction Academy Honor Award, the NAPEHE Distinguished Scholar Award, and the AAHPERD Presidential Citation Award.

A native of Connecticut, Locke received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Springfield College and a PhD from Stanford University. He makes his home in Sunderland, Massachusetts; with his wife, Professor Lorraine Goyette, he spends part of each year writing, running, and exploring the Beartooth Mountains at Sky Ranch in Reedpoint, Montana.

Dolly Lambdin, EdD, knows firsthand what physical education teachers face, having taught for 16 years at the elementary school level and for 24 years at the university level. During much of this time, she taught simultaneously at both levels, a situation that required her to spend part of each day meeting the teaching and research demands of academia while tackling the daily adventure of teaching 5- to 12-year-olds.

Lambdin began her conversations with Lawrence Locke during her undergraduate years at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he was her mentor. She received her master's degree at Columbia University and her doctorate at the University of Massachusetts. Lambdin has served on numerous local, state, and national committees, including the writing teams for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills in Physical Education, the NASPE Beginning Teacher Standards, and the NASPE Cabinet. Lambdin has recently been named the Texas AHPERD Outstanding College and University Physical Educator of the Year.

Lambdin is a senior lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches courses in children's movement, methods of teaching, and issues and trends and has supervised more than 60 student teachers. Her passions are playing with her family and friends, camping, canoeing, and spending summers in a cabin by a lake in Maine. She lives in Austin with her husband, Larry Abraham, and their two children, Andrew and Becca.