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In social constructivist educational theory, the classroom is seen as a community of learners. According to social constructivists, learning occurs through peer interactions, student ownership of the curriculum and educational experiences that are authentic for students. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers used social constructivist strategies to encourage student construction of knowledge and meanings, and how students constructed knowledge and meanings in two middle school physical education classrooms. A qualitative naturalistic design was used to collect data over a five-month period with two experienced middle school physical education teachers. Data included 11 weeks of observational field notes and interviews with teachers and students. Data were analyzed using cross-case and inductive analysis. Findings indicated that the teachers' strategies created a learning environment in which students actively constructed knowledge and meanings by making connections to their peers and by connecting physical education to their lives, their communities, and the real world. Students shared information, assumed leadership and responsibility, and became decision-makers. By connecting to their peers, students felt supported in their learning. This study offers additional findings in support of social constructivist pedagogy in physical education that encourages individual growth and social awareness in communities of learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acquiring scientific knowledge about physical activity is necessary for students to become physically literate for life, and cognitive engagement and cognitive levels of tasks are two components that often determine the effectiveness of knowledge acquisition. This study sought to determine the extent to which students' cognitive engagement in descriptive, relational and reasoning learning tasks contributed to their acquisition of knowledge and the extent to which cognitive engagement on lower-level tasks contributed to higher-level tasks (e.g. descriptive to relational to reasoning). The performance of students in descriptive, relational and reasoning tasks and knowledge acquisition was measured in 992 middle school students in active physical education lessons. The results revealed that students' performance in relational (regression coefficient = 0.09, p < 0.01) and reasoning (regression coefficient = 0.06, p < 0.01) tasks directly contributed to their acquisition of knowledge (R2 = 0.14). The performance of students in descriptive tasks indirectly contributed to knowledge acquisition through influencing their performance in relational and reasoning tasks (indirect effect = 0.09, p < 0.01). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In physical education, it has become necessary for children to learn kinesiological knowledge for understanding the benefits of physical activity and developing a physically active lifestyle. This study was conducted to determine the extent to which cognitive assignments about healthful living and fitness contributed to knowledge growth on cardiorespiratory fitness and health. Fourth grade students (N = 616) from 15 randomly sampled urban elementary schools completed 34 cognitive assignments related to the cardiorespiratory physical activities they were engaged in across 10 lessons. Performance on the assignments were analyzed in relation to their knowledge gain measured using a standardized knowledge test. A multivariate discriminant analysis revealed that the cognitive assignments contributed to knowledge gain but the contribution varied assignment by assignment. A multiple regression analysis indicated that students’ assignment performance by lesson contributed positively to their knowledge growth scores. A content analysis based on the constructivist learning framework showed that observing–reasoning assignments contributed the most to knowledge growth. Analytical and analytical–application assignments contributed less than the constructivist theories would predict. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]