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Grouping Students by Skill Level in Mini-Volleyball: Effect on Game Performance and Knowledge in Sport Education
M Pilar Mahedero1, Antonio Calderón2, Peter Hastie3
1Facultad de Deporte, UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, Spain.
Perceptual and Motor Skills
|June 4, 2021
Summary
Grouping high school students by skill level in mini-volleyball did not impact game performance or knowledge gains. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous groups showed improvements, suggesting teachers consider diverse grouping criteria for effective learning experiences.
Area of Science:
- Physical Education
- Sport Pedagogy
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Sport education models often group students by skill level.
- Research suggests heterogeneous grouping may benefit learning outcomes.
- The impact of skill-based grouping in mini-volleyball requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in game performance and knowledge based on skill-level grouping (homogeneous vs. heterogeneous) in high school mini-volleyball.
- To analyze the effects of different grouping strategies on decision-making, skill execution, game involvement, and knowledge acquisition.
- To compare quantitative and qualitative measures of student performance.
Main Methods:
- Mixed-methods approach with a quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test design.
- Quantitative analysis of decision-making, skill execution, game performance, game involvement, and game knowledge using paired samples t-tests.
- Qualitative analysis through expert review and student/teacher perceptions of performance.
Main Results:
- Students demonstrated significant improvements in game competence and knowledge across all groups.
- No statistically significant differences in performance or knowledge gains were found between homogeneous and heterogeneous skill-level groups.
- Both higher and lower skilled students in both grouping strategies achieved comparable improvements.
Conclusions:
- Skill-level grouping strategy had no discernible impact on learning gains in mini-volleyball.
- Teachers can consider grouping criteria beyond student ability to foster meaningful learning.
- Both homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping can be effective for improving game performance and knowledge.
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