Relationship between content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and throwing performance among primary school students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v83.119655Keywords:
Physical education, pedagogical content knowledge , motor development, over-hand throwing, teacher professional developmentAbstract
Introduction: Physical education teacher effectiveness is fundamentally tied to the depth and specialization of content knowledge.
Objective: To examine the influence of teacher content knowledge and developmental stage insights on enacted PCK and subsequent student throwing performance.
Methodology: Two public elementary physical education teachers and 124 boys (Mage=9.42; ± 0.49) corresponding to third and fourth grades in the Iranian educational system) participated in a quasi-experimental design combining a small-N single-case structure at the teacher level with a between-groups comparison at the student level. The study spanned three consecutive phases: design across comparison (standard instruction), professional development (throwing "knowledge packet"), and experimental conditions. Four PCK variables (task representation, demonstration, feedback, modification alignment) and student ball velocity (via Doppler radar) were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-tests.
Results: Teachers' PCK shifted significantly post-intervention, with effect sizes ranging from 1.49 to 7.23. Correct task representations and demonstrations increased from 18% to 95%, while developmentally appropriate feedback rose from 12% to 68%. These upgrades generated significant post-intervention velocity gains in the experimental cohort compared to controls (t(120) = -4.66, p < 0.001, d = 0.84)
Discussion: The results align with broader empirical frameworks regarding the critical role of content-specific pedagogical training in structured educational environments.
Conclusions: Advancing teacher content knowledge and developmental stage mastery directly transforms instructional behaviors, optimizing fundamental motor skill acquisition.
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