| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to describe and interpret cooperative learning in a secondary school physical education program. A multiple-method case study design was used to investigate the physical education environment. One eighth grade girls handball class in its first year of cooperative learning was compared to an eleventh grade girls handball class in its fourth year of cooperative learning. The qualitative inquiry included interviewing the students and the physical education teacher, taking field notes, and analysing relevant documents. A modified version of the task structure observational system (Siedentop, 1994) was used as a quantitative measure of the instructional ecology of the two physical education classes. Data revealed that both classes had low management, transition, and wait times. The grade eleven class spent less time in instruction and more time in engagement than the grade eight class. Both classes showed a similar amount of opportunities to respond during activity, but the eleventh grade class exhibited higher successful student responses. The cognitive engagement was integral to the functioning of both units. This included time used by the students, instead of direct instruction by the teacher, for learning a skill, reviewing material learned, planning a strategy at the beginning of a game, implementing change in activity during the game, and reflecting on activity after the game. The study revealed that both teacher and students understood and could visibly see the benefits that cooperative learning offered to the physical education program. This example of cooperative learning in physical education incorporated the basic elements of positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction, social and interpersonal skills, and group processing, which are germane to effective cooperative learning.
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