Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

Aim: The purpose of the study was to investigate how the assessment and grading is designed and practiced in the practical courses of physical education at GIH - the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, along with how it could affect newly graduated physical education teachers’ ability to assess and grade students. The study was based on Habermas’s system and life-world theory.

• What view occurs concerning proficiencies, basis for assessment and marking among teachers who are responsible for examinations within physical education at GIH?
• How is the examination structured within physical education at GIH?
• How are skills and proficiencies among assessment and marking further mediated to students in the teacher education at GIH?

Method: The case study was realized by performing qualitative interviews with a total of four teachers at physical education at GIH. Additionally, syllabi were text-analyzed to improve the validity of the study.

Results: From the results we found that the teachers experience marking as a complicated assignment, where particularly the didactic ability but also the practical ability form a formative and summative assessment. Learning outcomes are the key in the creation of the marking procedure. The teachers believe that the mediation of the abilities regarding assessment and marking to the students is a matter to develop. However, they state that certain assessment-methods, such as peer-feedback and “trained” eye, are applied in class since the students should have the opportunity to expand this ability.

Conclusion: An eclectic approach towards marking in practical items in physical education is fundamental in order to mediate proficiency and improve learning to pupils/students. Integration of formative and summative assessment along with the features of Habermas’s system and life-world are vital so as to create a reliable and transparent assessment and marking procedure.