the science of learning and development: Implications for sport and games pedagogy in physical education and sport coaching

 A good starting point for pedagogical thinking in sport and physical education is Judith Rink's (2006) criteria for a learning experience in Teaching Physical Education:

1. The learning experience must have the potential to improve the motor performance skills of students

2. Learning activities must provide maximal activity or practice time for all students 

3.  The learning experience must be appropriate for the experiential level of all students

4. The learning experiences should have the potential to integrate psychomotor, affective, and cognitive educational goals

Those familiar with my work know that I 'find favour' with cognitive science explanations that move design for purposeful learning from 'speculation' to evidence informed approaches since reading How People Learn: Brain, Mind Experience and School in 1999. I have previously summarised some of those approaches for PE and sport coaching in a blog here

I have followed the work of Katie Salen since reading Rules of Play (2003) and understanding how the 'science of learning' informs digital game design . Katie's Quest to Learn team suggested the criteria for a learning experience are:

- Taking on an identity

- Using game design and systems thinking

- Practicing in context

- Playing and reflecting

- Theorising and testing

- Responding to a 'need to know'

- Interacting with others

- Experimenting and imagining possibilities

- Giving and receiving feedback

- Inventing solutions

They seem to me like a very good list of guiding criteria for a game-based approach in sport and PE settings, such as the Game Sense approach.  If interested in this area, I have put the game design ideas for sport teaching in PE in a series of papers, which I summarised in this blog here.

Recently, I came across Linda Darling-Hammond and colleagues (2020) paper drawing out the implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development - available here. The paper summarises the foundational knowledge provided by the sciences of learning and development coupled with decades of insights gained from educational research. The paper also reviews research regarding practices that can help educators respond to individual variability, address adversity, and support resilience,. I recommend having a read if you are interested in 'evidenced informed' teaching' or the 'science' behind teaching for effective learning.

Image from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/project/science-of-learning-and-development