Research findings in education can provide invaluable insight into how teaching practice can be improved, but research papers are often inaccessible and hard to digest. This innovative new text is designed to assist physical education students, pre-service teachers, practising teachers and teacher educators to learn how to read research and to apply it to practice in primary and secondary physical education. The text also provides insights and implications for those working with young people in physical activity and sport settings.

The book presents a clear, step-by-step guide to how to read and interpret research, followed by a series of short and engaging introductions to contemporary research studies on key topics in physical education, from classroom management and programme design to assessment and social issues. Each study is discussed from the point of view of researcher, teacher educator and primary and post primary teacher, providing the reader with invaluable insight into how to use research to generate new ideas and improve their teaching practice.

Research and Practice in Physical Education is the perfect companion to any course in research methods, current issues, learning and teaching, or pedagogy and curriculum in physical education.

Introduction to Reading Research Guidelines for Reading Research - A Commonsense View Section I – Student Engagement and Experience 1. Individual and instructional determinants of student engagement in physical education 2. Physical education resources, class management and student physical activity levels 3. How can we enhance enjoyment of secondary school? 4. Measuring secondary pupils' disruptive behaviours in physical education 5. Social preferences for learning among adolescents in secondary physical education Section II – Instruction, Learning and Assessment 6. Students and teacher responses to a unit of student-designed games 7. The gendering of abilities in physical education 8. Perceptions of middle school assessment 9. Student perception of caring teaching in physical education 10. Defining, acquiring, and transacting cultural capital through assessment in physical education 11. Students’ and teachers’ experiences of assessment for learning Section III – Curriculum Models 12. The influence of student status on student interactions and experiences during a sport education unit 13. Influence of a hybrid sport education—teaching games for understanding unit 14. Measuring Students’ Perceptions of Personal and Social Responsibility and the Relationship to Intrinsic Motivation in Urban Physical Education 15. The role of various curriculum models on physical activity levels 16. Influence of occupational socialization on preservice teachers’ interpretation and delivery of the sport education modeol 17. Adventure-based learning and reflection Section IV – Continuing Professional Development 18. Development and Maintenance of a Community of Practice 19. Professional development when introducing a novel curriculum model 20. Collaborative learning in physical education teachers’ early-career professional development 21. Collaborative professional learning: From theory to practice 22. Teacher professional development: Who is the learner? Finding Different Ways to Make Research Serve Teaching Annotated List of Selected Research Journals