Tactical Games Instructional Analysis

Teaching Tactical Games may be new to Physical Education instruction, however, it is a vital aspect to the curriculum and student's learning. The largest content area in most Physical Education programs is teaching and learning sport-related games, especially in middle grades and higher (Metzler, 2011). With that being said, the Tactical Games instructional model proves to be very important because it picks apart the sport related games or any game and goes over possible tactics that involve the scenario at hand. There are various points when discussing and understanding the Tactical Games instructional model. First off, there are assumptions about teaching and learning that are involved in the Tactical Games approach. Also, the approach focuses
The model takes an appropriate gamelike situation and focuses on a particular tactical problem. The students are asked to solve this problem cognitively first and then execute the situation after. This is done to have the students be aware of what is going on in their surroundings, further showing them the possible skills that could be performed or are needed to perform during this situation. Michael W. Metzler, the author of Instructional Models for Physical Education, summarizes the theme or objective of Tactical Games in his book
The Physical Education National Standards are aligned well with the model. For example, the second standard states, "Demonstrates an understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to the learning performance of physical activities" (Couturier, 2014). This reflects everything the Tactical Games approach is trying to deliver to students. The model uses every aspect of this standard in delivering instruction to students. Research on the instructional model is limited and there has been mixed findings on the subject. Repetitive drills or activities are what Physical Educators predominantly go over and cognitive instruction sometimes calls for too much sedentary time when in PE which both go directly against the model. This makes it difficult to speculate if it is a valuable tool in the Physical Education classroom. However, some studies found that students that participated in a Tactical Games approach had better performances in court position, decision making, procedural knowledge and game decision making (Metzler, 2011). Studies have shown various successful improvements due to the Tactical Games approach. “Games Performance Assessment Instrument scores confirmed that participants improved at least one area of game performance (e.g., skill execution - passing) between Day 3 (week 1) and Day 7 (week 2) of the