EXSC109 - Games and Sports Skills

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

The ability to effectively teach games and sports skills in a range of contexts is central to the goals of coaching and educational programs and the achievement of personal development outcomes for a range of individual abilities and experiences. The aim of this unit is to provide the foundations for students to develop content knowledge and pedagogical skills using a variety of games from the Sport Education in Physical Education Program, net/wall, striking/fielding, invasion and target categories. Students will actively engage in practical activities and develop a variety of skills and strategies to teach these games and skills. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the role and purpose of participating in games and sports skills to encourage and promote life-long physical activity. This unit will also focus on an appreciation of social justice, an understanding of equity and a respect for the human being.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Content

Topics will include: 

• History and development of games and organised sport in Australia 
• Tactical Games Approach/ Games Sense Approach 
• Students Resources – invasion games 
• Students Resources – striking and fielding games 
• Students Resources – net and court games 
• Students Resources – target games 
• Students Resources – modified sports 
• Social-cultural perspectives of games and sport 
• Quality teaching /Inclusive education/Gender  

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit employs student-centred teaching and learning strategies based on the principles of constructivism and reflective practice. These strategies encourage independent and lifelong learning, where students take responsibility for their learning. The learning tasks are authentic (engage in tasks that are real), reflective (deep learning) and collaborative (engaging and working with peers). Student centred strategies include reflective writing, critical thinking activities, co-operative/ collaborative learning, incorporating Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and peer/independent learning. These strategies link directly to the assessment tasks, as the assessments are a teaching and learning strategy in itself. These strategies have been chosen to give students opportunities to actively engage with the content and to provide variety within the tutorial and assessment tasks. The knowledge and skills acquired can be applied and are relevant to what is required in real world situations for future profession/practice/workplace. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

Employers today seek more than knowledge from students, they want them to transfer learning to real situations, problem solve and have higher order thinking skills. Authentic assessment provides students with these skills, because the tasks are real, meaningful, require judgment and innovation and are related to one’s workplace, personal and social life. Students learn in different ways, professionally we need to explore and provide opportunities so they perform to their very best, feel worthwhile, empowered, enjoy learning and succeed happily. In order to best enable students to demonstrate unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements.

A range of assessment strategies are used including:

• Reflective writing: Written reflection on the role of games and sport skills as a foundation for the Teaching Resource File – purpose, aim, and why teaching games and participating in a range of movement experiences can promote and encourage lifelong physical activity.
• Constructivism strategy: Resource File - create your own teaching/learning activities related to “Games Sense” that will become the start of a resource file for your future teaching. This assessment type can be used and applied in real life situations/contexts (school, community, and youth groups) and future practice/profession.
• Collaborative Learning: Team teaching presentation - In groups choose either a game, drills, training session, or circuit that would be suitable for a Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) class, an afterschool session for day-care/community group, a training session for a sporting team at club or school level. This task is open to a variety of ideas and approaches and should reflect your own creativity, teamwork and skill. This assessment type can be used and applied in real life situations/contexts (school, community, and youth groups) and future practice/profession.
• Self-Assessment - Reflect and comment on your contribution to the team planning and presenting the teaching presentation.
• Examination: Requires students to demonstrate their understanding and application of course content.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Mitchell, S., Oslin, J. & Griffin, L. (2020) . Teaching Sport Concepts and Skills (4th Edition).  Champaign. Il: Human Kinetics. 

Pill, S. (2016). Game sense to sport literacy.  Hindmarsh, SA: Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (revised edition)

Pill, S., SueSee, B., Rankin, J., & Hewitt, M. (2022). The Spectrum of Sport Coaching Styles. Routledge, New York (1st edition). 

Breed, R. & Spittle, M. (2021). Developing Game Sense in Physical Education and Sport. Champaign: IL Human Kinetics.