Decision Making in Physical Education

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Decision making in physical education: theoretical perspectives STUDIES IN PHYSICAL CULTURE AND TOURISM Vol. 14, No. 2, 2007 CONSTANTINE CHATOUPIS Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Athens, Greece DECISION MAKING IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES Key words: physical education, decision making, decision sharing models. ABSTRACT This paper gives an overview of decision making in Physical Education. The Teacher Decision Making Approach (TDMA) and the Shared Decision Making Approach (SDMA) used in research on teaching Physical Education are described and their theoretical background is delineated. Also, the literature on the effects of these approaches on physical and affective development of primary school students is critically reviewed. Also, comments are made on the basis of the methodology and the statistical analysis utilized in the study. Finally, based on the conclusions recommendations for future research into decision making are given. INTRODUCTION Decision making is the process of choosing an alternative course of action in an efficient manner appropriate to the situation [44], or making choices among alternatives after gathering information and processing it in order to select the appropriate solution [32, 44]. It is contended that there are three types of decisions that an individual can make: conscious, unconscious, and decisions that are forced upon us [4]. The same authors conclude that decision making is an important aspect of human functioning. There are a number of decision making theories such as Alport’s resolution of disequilibrium, Parson’s dynamics of decision making, Cooper’s forces and processes and Mancini and Martinek’s decision sharing [3]. Mancini and Martinek’s theory has been used extensively in research on Physical Education (PE) teaching. However,

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