May 2006 # 5
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The Interdisciplinary Physical Education Curriculum

By
Dr. Joanne Margaret Hynes Hunter

California Polytechnic State University - USA

 
 
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Interdisciplinary learning is a didactic process in which two or more subject areas are integrated with the objective of encouraging learning in each subject area.  Implementing an interdisciplinary program brings different subject matter teachers together to construct stimulating learning experiences for students as well as discovering innovative ways of delivering the curriculum.  The concept of interdisciplinary learning acknowledges the integrity and uniqueness of each subject area, yet recognizes the interrelationships of one subject to another. Interdisciplinary learning serves as a continual source of energy feeding the educational process.

2. Interdisciplinary learning is nourished by the content offered by multiple subject areas.

Interdisciplinary learning is nourished by the content offered by multiple subject areas.  The specific content of each subject is composed of skills and knowledge.  Skills are the abilities or techniques a student learns and uses to execute a movement or demonstrate a concept or idea, such as throwing, measuring and drawing.  Knowledge is defined as concepts, principles, theories, beliefs or topics inherent to each subject area.


3. Both teachers and students benefit from interdisciplinary learning.

Both teachers and students benefit from interdisciplinary learning. For teachers, an appreciation of the knowledge and expertise of other staff members is developed.  Interdisciplinary learning facilitates teamwork and planning as teachers work together to weave a theme across several subject areas.  In addition, students benefit when they see teachers working in different subject areas, teaching in different classroom space and making similar points across subject areas.  Their learning is reinforced in a powerful and meaningful way.  As a result of participating in and observing a variety of interdisciplinary activities in the school, students begin to realize how the skills and knowledge in one subject area can transfer into another and, ultimately, be applied to life experiences.

Additional advantages:

  • Makes the curriculum more relevant because students can embed knowledge and skills in real life contexts (Wasley, 1994).
  • Piaget (1969) children learn more when they can bridge the gap between abstract concepts and the hands-on real world.
  • Uses different learning styles and combines modalities of seeing (visual), hearing (auditory), and doing (tactile-kinesthetic), allowing students the opportunity to use their strengths to learn what they are taught.
  • Teachers benefit because it:
     

    # Builds understanding of other subject areas and fosters appreciation of the knowledge and expertise of other staff members.

     
    # Facilitates teamwork and planning as teachers work together to weave a theme across several subject areas.
      # When students see this, their learning is reinforced.
  • Students realize how the skills and knowledge in one subject area can transfer into another and ultimately be applied to life experiences.

National, state and local Standards in physical education and dance include interdisciplinary learning. They also describe the need to provide teachers with opportunities where teachers can work together to deliver an integrated curriculum.  The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (1995) document on Standards for Beginning Physical Education Teachers, as well as the National Dance Association's (1994) National Standards for Dance Education require that teachers have content knowledge allowing them to incorporate concepts and strategies into other subject areas.  While none of the Physical Education Standards, Moving into the Future: National Standards for Physical Education (NASPE, 1995), directly mention the concept of interdisciplinary education, there is ample indirect support.  Much of what we inherently do already is interdisciplinary in nature.  For example, the application of movement concepts and principles to the learning and development of motor skills gives support to the many scientific principles that have application in physical education and dance.  In addition, learning to appreciate and value differences among people provides support for learning inclusive of gender and cultural perspectives.  Reading , writing and speaking components of the language arts standards are mentioned in the sample benchmarks and assessment examples as means to demonstrate proficiency in meeting the physical education standards.

Even though there are numerous advantages of interdisciplinary learning, some teacher professionals do not employ interdisciplinary learning techniques in their classroom/gymnasiums. Cone (2005) has identified six reasons why some teachers oppose interdisciplinary learning:

  1. Concern that content will fall by the wayside, i.e. the “purity” of the subject area and the logical scope and sequence will be lost in integrated units.
  2. Concern that one subject area will be allowed to overshadow another.
  3. Diminished planning time for their own disciplinary efforts & concern over arranging a common planning time with other teachers.
  4. Few assessment techniques that address interdisciplinary learning.
  5. Lack of professional development in interdisciplinary learning & teaching.
  6. Finding adequate space to conduct activities, organizing materials, securing the use of audio/visual equipment & other technological support.

Since National, state, and local standards are beginning to address the issue and necessity of interdisciplinary learning, it behooves physical educators to become more involved in learning how to integrating interdisciplinary learning in the gymnasium.


4. Use the following questions as a guide in the planning of the interdisciplinary lessons

Once a physical educator has decided to implement interdisciplinary learning strategies, s/he should use the following questions1 as a guide in the planning of the interdisciplinary lessons:

  1. What subjects do I want to integrate?
  2. Where do I find information to use?
  3. Who will I work with?
  4. What is the best way to create a learning experience?
  5. What will students learn in each subject & how can the learning be assessed?
  6. How does integrating subjects meet the Standards for each subject area?

In addition, when selecting the content of the interdisciplinary learning experience, teachers should choose the knowledge and skills they want to teach, rather than fall into the trap of using activities that may result in a superficial or contrived connection.  Begin with one lesson or a part of a lesson focused on a specific topic or single idea.  Set reasonable objectives for the learning experience and move to the next step of gathering content information and materials.  Try to develop a sense of awareness as to when there is a natural relationship between subjects.  When designing the lesson, keep in mind that the students should feel like the activities are fun and exciting, and see meaningful links between the subject areas.  Teachers need to determine if the activities can fit into the current schedule or if an adjustment can take place between colleagues or if a change is needed school-wide.  Identify the materials and equipment needed and discuss the type of space necessary for a successful experience.  Finally, plan for:

  • How students will be organized: individually or in groups,
  • How individual needs and learning styles will be attend to, and
  • Ensuring that everyone is actively involved.

After the 6 guiding questions related to the planning of interdisciplinary lessons are answered (above), the teacher can d evelop the interdisciplinary learning experience using the following steps (Cone, 2005):

  1. Review curricular guides and scope and sequences
  2. Select content (themes, topics, issues)
  3. Gather content information
  4. Decide on the interdisciplinary teaching model(s)
  5. Create lesson plans, include specific activities
  6. Determine scheduling, materials, equipment, organization, facilities
  7. Decide how to assess student learning

1 From: http://users.rowan.edu/%7Econe/gettingstarted.html 2/18/05


5. The final interdisciplinary learning experience lesson plan

The final interdisciplinary learning experience lesson plan may look something like the follow three interdisciplinary learning examples, which were taken from http://users.rowan.edu/%7Econe/interdisciplinarymodels.html 2/18/05 :

EXAMPLE 1

Content Areas : Physical Education - Overhand throw for distance.  Science - Third class levers
Suggested Grade Level : 2 nd – 3 rd grade
Standard Addressed : Physical Education Standard #2, Applies movement concepts and principles to the development and learning of motor skills.
Description: In this learning experience the teacher has instructed the students on how to perform a mature overhand throw for distance.  The instruction includes an explanation of how an overhand throw uses the principles of a third class lever system.  The science principle is included to illustrate the biomechanical operation of the arm in a throw.  The student can see how a science principle is used in a practical situation.  The instruction is followed by time for the students to practice the overhand throw.  The teacher emphasizes the following performance criteria during instruction: side to target, steps with opposite foot, elbow out and back, and follow-through.
Assessment Instruments: (1) The teacher uses a performance checklist to score how well students use mature form when performing the overhand throw for distance.  The assessment will show the teacher how many students have mastered the skill and how many need more practice and instruction.  (2) To assess the students understanding of the connection between the physical skill of the overhand throw and the Science principle of third class levers, the student writes in their Physical Education journal about how an overhand throw uses the principles of a third class lever.  The teacher will read the journal entries and comment to each student about their description.

 

EXAMPLE 2

Content Areas : Two teachers are both teaching about the concepts of symmetry and asymmetry during the same time period.  In the Physical Education program the concepts are taught using shapes and balances in gymnastics and in the Mathematics program they are taught in a Geometry lesson focused on dividing the space of triangles, squares and rectangles.
Suggested Grade Level: 4 – 6
Standard Addressed: Physical Education Standard #1, Demonstrates competency in many movement forms and proficiency in a few movement forms.
Description: In the physical education class, partners create a gymnastics routine using three different static balances that demonstrate symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes.  Together they explore making symmetrical and asymmetrical balanced shapes at low, medium, and high levels.  Next, develop and refine a gymnastic sequence demonstrating smooth transitions using three shapes.  In the Geometry lesson, the mathematics teacher presents a task that asks students to find different ways to divide the space of a triangle, square and rectangle so the space is symmetrical and then asymmetrical.
Assessment Instruments: The gymnastics lesson is completed using a peer assessment.  Partners observe another set of partners performing their gymnastics routine and score the routine based on a set of criteria and a scoring rubric that has been developed by the teacher and students at the beginning of the lesson.  An example of the rubric is as follows:

  • Excellent: Partners include symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes in their routine.  They can hold all three balances for a count of three and move smoothly from one balance to another.
  • Good: Partners include symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes in their routine.  They hold two balances for a count of three or hesitate when moving from one balance to another.
  • Needs Improvement: Partners do not include both symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes in their routine or hold only one balance for a count of three.

Assessment of the geometry lesson would include each student drawing their solutions demonstrating how each shape can be divided into three symmetrical and three asymmetrical shapes.  The scoring rubric would describe the number of accurate drawings needed for each level of achievement.  For example:

  • Outstanding, 16 -18 accurate drawings,
  • Very Good, 13 - 15 accurate drawings,
  • Satisfactory, 10-12 accurate drawings and
  • Needs Extra Help, 9 or fewer accurate drawings. 

After each lesson is assessed the scores for each child from the gymnastics lesson and the geometry lesson are collated to evaluate the student's understanding of the concept of symmetry and asymmetry in different situations.

 

EXAMPLE 3

Content Areas: The Physical Education teacher, the Music teacher, and the classroom teacher plan and team teach a learning experience to meet the objective that students will develop collaborative skills that contribute to successful friendships.  All three teachers present activities that result in the students writing poetry on the theme of collaboration in friendship and then using the poems as inspiration for creating instrumental music and dances.  Collaboration is the focus for all activities during the creative process as well as when presenting the final products.  The learning experience will conclude with a performance that includes a choral reading of the poems, an instrumental music piece composed and played by a small group of students, and a dance performed to the music piece.
Suggested Grade Level: 4 – 6
Standards addressed: Physical Education Standard #5, Demonstrates responsible, personal and social behavior in physical activity settings.  Physical Education Standard #7, Understands that physical activity provides the opportunity for enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and social interaction.
Assessment Instruments: The teachers have developed several instruments for evaluating the student's understanding of the concept of collaboration that include student self assessment, teacher assessment and peer assessment.

  • Self-Assessment - Before the learning experience, each student completes a set of questions related to their understanding of the meaning of collaboration and when it appears in their daily life.  At the end of the learning experience, they complete a similar set of questions that asks them to describe how collaboration was used in the activities and to comment on their personal feelings about collaboration during the learning experience.  The teachers review the responses with each student in a personal conference.
  • Teacher Assessment - The teachers identify the collaborative behaviors they want to see exhibited by the students during the creation of the music composition and the dance choreography.  They develop a checklist and record which behaviors they observe and how many times they appear.  Each teacher takes a turn to observe and assess a student group while the other two teachers work with the students.
  • Peer Assessment - Students view a videotape of the performance and write or draw a picture to describe a part of the performance where collaboration is used.
Start the discussion: 

Answer the following questions to help settle a debate the authors were having on these topics:

1. Is interdisciplinary learning in physical education a good or bad strategy?

2. Have you already had the opportunity to participate in an experience within your own physical education program or through a collaborative experience with a colleague? How did it work? What advice or recommendations do you have for other educators contemplating interdisciplinary learning?

3. Do you have interdisciplinary learning lesson plans/activities you would like to share? Please add activities using the above “Example” format (i.e. content area addressed, grade level, National standard(s) the activity addresses, assessment).
How to get involved ? 

First copy the above questions ( you'll paste them into the reply form of the discussion forum) and then ...

Just click onto this link
 
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