Physical Education Majors' Experience in a Student-Designed Games Unit

Introduction: Student-designed games (SDGs) are the process in which students create, practice, and refine their own games and where the teacher acts as a facilitator in guiding and establishing certain limits (Hastie, 2010). The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of a group of physical education majors as they participated in a teaching unit of SDGs. More specifically, the study sought to identify: (a) what their appreciation was in this experience, (b) what their learning outcomes were, and (c) what their considerations were in teaching SDGs in their future professional practice. Methods: Participants were 45 1st-year physical education majors (22 women, 23 men) from a Brazilian university, who were members of 8 game-design groups. The SDG unit lasted for 4 weeks. Data collection included: (a) field notes, (b) online discussion forum participation, and (c) postintervention interviews. Data were analyzed through a systematic process of inductive analysis and constant comparison among the 3 sources of data (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). When accumulated data confirmed similar findings, themes were generated. Results: Ten themes were developed from the data, and these themes are located within the original research questions. In terms of appreciation, themes included (a) liking the freedom of choice, and (b) appreciating different games. In terms of learning outcomes, themes included (a) learning about games classifications, (b) how to work in groups, (c) game appreciation, and (d) SDG pedagogical methodologies. With respect to future adoption, students suggested they would (a) use SDG methodology to design other activities, (b) use SDG to promote improved relationships among students, (c) promote teamwork, and (d) use SDG as they consider an appropriate practice for children. Conclusion: The present study supports SDG as a meaningful experience that has the potential to teach content (e.g., teamwork, game appreciation) from learning domains that are often overlooked within physical education.