Category I: Content Knowledge and Student Growth and Development
Overview
This content category has 36 selected-response questions. These questions account for 30% of the entire exam.
This content category can be neatly divided into 2 sections:
- Core Concepts
- Student Growth and Development
So, let’s talk about Core Concepts first.
Core Concepts
This section tests your knowledge of core concepts, such as motor skills, kinesiology, anatomy, and physiology. You will also need to know about a variety of activities and games appropriate for grade K-12 and how to use equipment properly.
Let’s talk about some concepts that you will more than likely see on the test.
Gross Motor Development
Gross motor skills involve large muscle groups that we use daily. These skills involve the coordination of muscles and the neurological system. Although most of these skills come automatically, they are very complex. Children hit gross motor milestones as they develop. For example, a three or four-year-old typically can jump and land on two feet, while a seven or eight year old has enough balance to ride a bike with no training wheels. These milestones are hit in sequence.
Skill-Related Fitness
The six components of skill-related fitness are agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, and speed.
Agility
is the ability of the body to change direction quickly while keeping control. Examples of activities that require agility include:
- Football
- Basketball
- Soccer
- Tennis
Balance
is the ability of the body to maintain an upright posture when still or in motion. Examples of activities that require balance include:
Coordination
is the ability of the body to use hand and foot movements with the input of our senses. Examples of activities that require coordination include:
- Crossfit
- Golf
- Jumping Rope
Power
is the ability of the body to perform strength work at an explosive speed. Examples of activities that require power include:
- Olympic Lifts
- Plyometrics
- Track and Field
Reaction Time
is the amount of time it takes for the body to react to a stimulus, such as a starting gun or movement of an opponent. Examples of activities that require reaction time include:
- Racquet Sports
- Martial Arts
- Cricket
Speed
is the ability of the body to move quickly from one point to another. Examples of activities that require speed include:
- Sprinting
- Speed Skating
- Swimming
Student Growth and Development
This section tests your knowledge of designing effective and appropriate physical education activities based on developmental stages and individual student needs.
Here are some concepts you should know.
Affective Domain
The affective domain is comprised of attitudes, values, and emotions. The components that make up this domain include receiving, responding, valuing, organization, and characterization.
- Receiving– Openness to new information or experiences
- Responding– Active participation in new information or experiences
- Valuing– Attaching value to new information or experiences
- Organization– Incorporating new information or experiences into a pre-existing value system
- Characterization– Full integration of new information or experiences resulting in new attitudes, beliefs, and/or behaviors
The affective domain is often applied in the physical education setting because students are often learning new sports, activities, and concepts. Below are some physical education activities that involve the affective domain.
Line Boogie (K-2)
- Students line up in groups and move a beanbag from one end of the line to the other without letting it hit the floor.
- Use of Affective Domain: Students must pay close attention to others’ movements to prevent the beanbag from dropping.
Tic-Tac-Toe Relay (3-5)
- Students are in groups. One person races to the board to put their marker down, coming back to tag one of their teammates that sends them to the board to put their marker down. This pattern continues. The objective is to get a line before their opponent does.
- Use of Affective Domain: Students must race down and think about where to put their marker in order to block their opponent from winning.
Moving Tower Push Ups (Middle Grades)
- Teams must rebuild a tower by moving one piece at a time while running to the designated area to complete one push-up to the best of their ability.
- Use of Affective Domain: Students challenge themselves to race down to complete their push up, tolerate pain when completing the push-up, and persevere despite difficulty.
Wacky Walks Heart Rate Monitoring (High School)
- Students learn to take their resting and active heart rate. They complete a series of different exercises like walking, lunges, jumping jacks, etc. to determine their active heart rate. They then do push-ups or triceps dips to target a different muscle group and record their heart rate.
- Use of Affective Domain: Students understand the importance of exercise and what movements will best increase their heart rate.
Check out this website for the other domains used in these different activities: www.advancementcourses.com
Experiential Readiness
Experiential readiness is how background knowledge, prior learning, experiences, and level of aspiration affect a student’s readiness to learn. The disparities in readiness can be great when comparing students. For example, some students come into kindergarten knowing all the letters of the alphabet, while others don’t know a single letter. These disparities can also be present in the physical education classroom and can affect a child’s ability. For example, a child may play sports for different recreational leagues outside of school while another child in the same class is not allowed to play outside. As a result, teachers need to mix content with the process of student learning. There should be a balance between experiential activities and content with no judgment while the students explore in a safe place.
And that is some basic information about the Content Knowledge and Student Growth and Development category of the Praxis®️ PE: Content Knowledge exam.
