THE PHYSICAL SKILLS ACHIEVEMENT EFFECTS OF AN ECLECTIC APPROACH IN INSTRUCTION WHEN IMPLEMENTED IN LIEU OF THE PREFERRED STYLE

The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of an eclectic approach to instruction on psychomotor achievement when implemented in lieu of the teacher's preferred style of instruction. Specifically, this study examined student achievement in twelve psychomotor skills within three physical activities, when these activities were taught through different instructional methods.

The research design was the nonequilvalent untreated control group design utilizing a pretest and posttest. The control and experimental groups were assigned from physical education classes taught by four instructors at two junior high schools in Idaho. A total of 143 seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students were involved in the study.

At the beginning of the study all four teachers completed Canfield's Instructional Style Inventory. The results of this inventory were utilized to describe all four teachers' preferred style of instruction and to develop each teacher's eclectic style of instruction.

All teachers pretested their students with a battery of three psychomotor tests that corresponded with the physical activities being taught (golf, badminton, and football). The teachers then instructed the particular physical activity using their preferred teaching style. After completion of the unit, the teachers administered the posttests. The teachers then taught the same physical activity to a second group of students utilizing an eclectic style of instruction. At the completion of the second instructional unit the teachers again administered the posttests.

The particular eclectic style for each teacher incorporated instructional styles that were identified not to be of high preference and were used in conjunction with his/her preferred instructional style. The teachers were not aware of their requirement to teach the eclectic style until after the completion of the first unit of instruction.

A statistical analysis was made utilizing twelve separate one-way analysis of variance with gain scores. The results showed that students' psychomotor achievement was significantly greater in 9 of the 12 psychomotor skills when taught eclectically.