Colin G. Pennington

Tarleton State University | TSU

The purpose of this article is to explore to what degree the subject of sportsmanship, morality, and character development is addressed in PE and youth sport. Secondly, to present the impact Formal Education Programs have had in addressing the issue of character in sport. Furthermore, recommendations are made for improving the moral and social deve...

Given that part of the broad mission of education is to help students develop character and prosocial values, schools and teachers should allow children opportunities to develop healthy social skills. In the pursuit of prosocial development, physical educators can take advantage of pedagogical models like Sport Education that have demonstrated its...

Few studies have focused on the issues older physical education (PE) teachers encounter which may limit their effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a PE teacher’s apparent age on high school pupils’ learning and perceptions of the teacher. Participants were 114 ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade pupils. The...

Purpose: To examine the impact of a physical education teacher’s age on students’ learning and perceptions of the teacher. Method: 188 elementary students were randomly assigned to view one of two virtually identical filmed swimming lessons. In the young appearance lesson (YAL), the teacher was youthful. In the middle aged lesson (MAL), he had bee...

Very limited empirical research sets out to investigate the impact of deliberately constructed ego-oriented climates on the application of prosocial skills and sportsmanlike behaviors in competitive settings. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to measure certain behaviors related to sportsmanship using a systematic observation instrument, the...

Afterward

This book contains collected works from kinesiology, sport pedagogy, coaching, and physical education professionals at the graduate level, as well as observations and ideas from myself - a professor of kinesiology and sport pedagogy and former personal trainer and grade-school coach and educator. While enrolled in respective undergraduate and gradu...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how urban physical educators' experiences influence their motivations toward vocational persistence emphasizing health and fitness. Methods: Participants included 16 urban physical educators who participated in semistructured interviews about their experiences teaching in urban settings. For minorit...

Physical education can play a critical role in helping children establish a foundation for an active lifestyle. There is reason to believe the impact of COVID-19 eliminating compulsory physical education in the K-12 setting only exasperated the problem of increasingly physically unhealthy children in the United States. Much of what kinesiology and...

Due to a limited number of informative articles available on collegiate rodeo and its athletes, this work aimed to examine the relationship between anthropometric measurements and the physical fitness of rodeo athletes to add to the limited literature focused on the physical profile of rodeo athletes. Within the protocol of university IRB guideline...

While kinesiology as a field and as an academic major has evolved and diversified considerably over the last several decades, the cultural and racial demographics of kinesiology majors remains fairly similar to the demographic characteristics of the early 2000's and before. There is incongruence between the actual diversity of the American populati...

While kinesiology as a field and as an academic major has evolved and diversified considerably over the last several decades, the cultural and racial demographics of kinesiology majors has remained fairly similar to the demographic characteristics of the early 2000s and before. There is incongruence between the actual diversity of the American popu...

This book contains collected works from kinesiology, sport pedagogy, coaching, and physical education professionals at the graduate level, as well as observations and ideas from the editor, a professor of kinesiology and sport pedagogy and former personal trainer and grade-school coach and educator. While enrolled in respective undergraduate and gr...

The concept of 'flexible seating' has emerged as a possibility to meeting the goals of an active learning classroom. Recent scholarship has suggested that numerous student learning predictors are enhanced when interacting with flexible seating. This study aims to fill a gap in the literature by investigating the effects of flexible seating from a p...

Disability media studies articulates the formation of a new field of study, based in the rich traditions of media, cultural, and disability. Television, film, current periodicals, and other mass media are a part of our everyday lives. Attitudes regarding a variety of issues can be affected by these media, not the least of which are attitudes toward...

The importance of resistance training (Conley & Pennington, 2022; Pennington, 2020) cardiovascular fitness (Pennington, 2015; 2016), and anaerobic power (Pennington, 2014) cannot be overstated for individuals enlisted in our country's armed forces. The Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) is the new branch wide fitness test designed to replace the outda...

Ideally, as put across by the Disability & Human Rights guide, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) does not give a detailed description of disability but rather gives a wide range of features that intend describe disability. The truth is, despite being incapacitated in a certain way, people living with disabilities shou...

With numerous unique physical, mental, psychological, and emotional challenges associated with being a university-level student-athlete, it can be assumed that student-athletes may be at great risk of mental health conditions such as burnout. Burnout results from the interaction of three different elements: physical or emotional exhaustion, sport d...

Quality physical education is a form of public health. When done effectively and with holistic child-development goals, the physical educator is simultaneously a 'health' educator. This article will provide an overview of basic and essential understandings of health education from a public-health perspective; exploring cultural influences and healt...

Physical activity is a primary focus, essential aspect, and significant contributing factor of a healthy human lifespan; however, among the top 25 ranked research institution, only nine university required physical education in the core curriculum (36%). Of the top 25 liberal arts institutes, 17 (68%) include physical education within the core, but...

Physical education standards, policy, and funding through physical education are vital to the wellness of an individual. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief history of public-school physical education throughout grade-school and the years of higher education by illuminating the backwards trend that school law and policy has created for...

Resistance exercise is the performance of physical exercises designed to improve strength, muscular, endurance, hypertrophy, and neuromuscular efficiency with the use of weights (Braith & Stewart, 2006)[1]. Resistance exercise has long been utilized for its beneficial health qualities and propensity to elicit certain desired physiological changes (...

This aim of this study was to examine the relationship between preservice teachers' acculturation and their beliefs related to teaching health-related fitness (HRF) within the K-12 setting. Participants included three preservice physical education teachers enrolled in an HRF course. Inductive analysis determined the factors that contributed to part...

As a physical educator, the likelihood of having a student with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in your class are extremely high. Autism Spectrum Disorder differs between individuals; it can be high or low functioning. Having these students in the classroom can be challenging at times, and you must understand these students and their needs. Not all...

This article describes the benefits of utilizing a newsletter assignment as an innovative teaching-learning resource at the university level. I continue by describing an actual Coaching course which has served as a site at which the newsletter assignment has been practiced. Following the course description are actual examples of what practical acad...

This book provides an overview of current issues being discussed in higher-education kinesiology and sport pedagogy departments, as well as current research being conducted in physical education, physical education preparatory programs, and kinesiology departments more generally. Those who are served valuable content from this publication include k...

Academic clustering occurs when a disproportionate number of athletes on a single team share an academic major. Clustering is a highly analyzed topic both in the academy and amongst student-athlete development practitioners. Scholars have largely only examined if the * * Corresponding Author's E-mail: jbrock@tarleton.edu. clustering phenomenon exis...

While kinesiology as a field and as academic major has evolved and diversified considerably over the last several decades, the cultural and racial demographics of kinesiology majors remains fairly similar to the demographic characteristics of the early 2000's and before. There is incongruence between the actual diversity of the American population...

Kinesiology is the study of movement or, more generally, the study of physical activity. The term kinesiology meets all the criteria for labeling the academic physical activity domain, and has the useful advantage of being neutral in many of the current debates regarding emphases on the disciplinary, professional, or activity dimensions and subsets...

Kinesiology as a field and as academic major has evolved and diversified considerably over the last several decades. Despite the evolution of kinesiology in higher education, relatively little is known about how kinesiology professionals are recruited into, educated for, and socialized through their professional roles. It is likely that recruits in...

Amputation is a removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. An amputation can affect mobility and dexterity. The main effect of a lower limb amputation is a reduction of that person's mobility meaning that the will not be able to walk as they did pre-injury or surgery. In the majority of cases after sufficient care and rehabilitation,...

The purpose of this article is to explore the different prosthetics inventions in physical activity and sport, and how they have progressed. This brief review seeks to answer the research question, how has the advancement of prosthetics aided in the inclusion of lower and upper body amputees in physical activity? The goal is to analyze outdated tec...

Hearing loss causes major challenges in individuals' lives. If we are able to learn how to better help or understand the hard of hearing, we could help change someone's life. This article presents considerations about the benefits of intervention, technology, and inclusion strategies in the deaf and hard of hearing community. Becoming familiar with...

Adaptive personal fitness and training classes are becoming more available in society. Incorporating modified classes allows for greater inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Personal fitness classes increase over health, muscle strength and decreases mental stressors. Unfortunately, personal trainers are taught modification for injuries, obe...

Despite the fact that cerebral palsy affects the balance, coordination, muscles, and movements of individuals, adaptive sports can be used to help individuals with cerebral palsy stay physically active. High-quality physical education and movement opportunities can integrate children with cerebral palsy into movement programing, as to enable childr...

Adaptive personal fitness and training classes are becoming more available in society. Incorporating modified classes allows for greater inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Personal fitness classes increase over health, muscle strength and decreases mental stressors. Unfortunately, personal trainers are taught modification for injuries, obe...

The coach serves an integral role in shaping the youth sport experience. For athletes with disabilities, participation in sports may be a negative experience because their coach may misperceive or misunderstand their behaviors. More educational material about coaching adaptive athletes would help bridge the information gap between weightlifting coa...

An ecological approach focuses on both population-level and individual-level determinants of health and interventions. It considers issues that are community-based and not just individually focused. It highlights people's interactions with their physical and sociocultural environments. This article discusses the purposes, shortcomings, and extensio...

Coaches strive to push athletes toward their full technical and physical potential while surpassing the previous generation of athletes. In doing so, comprehending how to integrate and organize various learning experiences is essential. This article seeks to describe the stages of learning (Fitts Posner, 1967) and the transfer of learning (Perkins...

Coaches strive to push athletes toward their full technical and physical potential while surpassing the previous generation of athletes. In doing so, comprehending how to integrate and organize various learning experiences is essential. This article seeks to describe the stages of learning (Fitts & Posner, 1967) and the transfer of learning (Perkin...

Perfect practice makes perfect. However, practices rarely resemble perfection and the ‘right’ amount of practice time and type have been hotly debated. Furthermore, most athletes have experienced the unpleasant, unproductive, and unreasonably long, and repetitive practice. Experiences such as these oftentimes leave athletes questioning their partic...

The Transtheoretical Model is an integrative model of behavior change developed in response to increasing theoretical diversity within psychotherapy. Since its conception, the model has been applied to a variety of behavior change contexts such as substance abuse, diet, and exercise. PURPOSE: to review and summarize the literature relative to appli...

Early research in the psychological and social development of students has explored the effect of a teacher’s appearance on physical education students’ learning and perceptions of the teacher. Initial studies of this nature suggested that teachers’ appearance, clothing, and fitness influenced students’ perceptions of teachers’ instructional abilit...

Occupational Socialization Theory (OST) has been a thoroughly researched topic among scholars of sport pedagogy for over 40 years (see Richards, Pennington, & Sinelnikov, 2019). The purpose of this mini-review is not to cover the extensive body of knowledge based in OST research, but to provide a brief outline on two less often mentioned concepts l...

Unfortunately, many physical educators, coaches, and youth exercise providers may not be educated on the condition of hemophilia, thus limiting the amount of physical activity hemophilic individuals receive under their care. This article seeks to describe some common symptoms of hemophilia and how physical activity and sport can be modified to be m...

The purpose of this chapter is to provide scholars and prospective doctoral students a description of my particular academic path leading me to a doctoral degree in kinesiology and a career in academia. This purpose was met by reflection and recollection of meaningful checkpoints in my socialization, such as high school influences, college influenc...

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is complete or partial damage to the spinal cord. Those with SCI lose control of the parts below the injury, greatly impacting a person’s lifestyle. A spinal cord injury can affect a person in many ways - one can lose movement in their lower body, upper body, or just one localized area [for instance, the hands]. Spinal cord...

This article outlines a brief review of literature of occupational socialization theory. Specific to physical educators, occupational socialization theory examines the ways individuals are recruited into, prepared for, and socialized in the profession. It represents a dialectical perspective on socialization, acknowledging that educators are shaped...

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects 1 to 10% of children, and is characterized by a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity. Research has indicated that individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder actually may give elite athletes a slight edge because of symptoms such as preservation...

Coaches and physical educators are likely to come into contact with numerous students under their care who have a variety of physical impairments. These impairments, on the surface, may appear to be significant deterrents to participation in physical education, sports, and/or physical activity. However, with some modifications and special attention...

Cerebral palsy is the most common motor disability in childhood. Cerebral palsy can significantly impact the amount of physical activity and individual obtains, and the scope and quality of the physical activity may be limited by cerebral palsy. High-quality physical education can integrate children with cerebral palsy into movement programing, as...

REVIVE, a committee of eight employees within the School of Kinesiology at Tarleton State University, focuses on promoting healthy lifestyles for employees. In an effort to promote interest in all dimensions of wellness, REVIVE offers a variety of events including, but not limited to: health screenings, information sessions, personal training, outd...

Academic clustering occurs when at least 25% of an athletic team declare the same major. Research reveals many student-athletes are steered into majors that yield greater chances of maintaining athletic eligibility rather than aligning with academic interests and occupational aspirations. Clustering has yet to be examined at lower NCAA levels. Guid...

Evidence suggests that physical activity patterns become habitual during childhood, and it is possible that activity patterns continue into adulthood. Unfortunately, traditional physical education practices have been called into question in regard to the amount of vigorous physical activity the class actually provides. Undergraduate physical educat...

Individuals with visual impairments (e.g., retinal detachment, low vision, complete blindness) tend to experience barriers that can limit vigorous participation in physical education. Research generally indicates that individuals with visual impairments and/or retinal detachment perform below the physical fitness levels of their peers. The fact is...

Pennington, C. G. (2020, February). Secondary Professional Socialization: Socializing Doctoral Students into the Professoriate. The Southwest Educational Research Association Conference, Arlington, TX.

Pennington, C. G. & Webb, L. M. (2020, February). A Chance to Play is a Chance to Learn: Integrating Individuals with Physical Disabilities into Physical Education. The Southwest Educational Research Association Conference, Arlington, TX.

Pennington, C. G., McEntryre, K., Ivy, V., & Brock, J. (2020, February). Physical Education Preservice Teachers’ Perspective on Teaching Health-Related Fitness. The Southwest Educational Research Association Conference, Arlington, TX.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure the physical activity contributions of Dancing Classrooms on middle school students. Method: Data was collected on 77 students from two large urban middle schools who wore Actigraph wGT3X+ accelerometers for two weeks during the program. Physical activity profiles were created to show participant he...

Religion, medicine, and healthcare are related. Research states that religiosity and spirituality have a positive effect on a patient's health. There is a high belief in God in the United States, but clinicians are not inquiring about religion and spiritual aspects in patients' healthcare today as patients would prefer. In the case of some physical...

Within the complex system of compulsory school physical education, there are opportunities for physical educators to meet goals beyond physical-health related objectives. Positive moral socialization can occur through physical education; students who develop prosocial competence during the years of their formative education are more likely to be su...

Pennington, C. G. (2019). Doctoral Students Socialized into Educators by Serving as Mentors to Undergraduate Pupils. Iowa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TfC4GlwlJuWvee3I_3pyhbBPTM6F00CH. In this article, the key issues that impact physical education teacher education (PETE) doct...

Pennington, C. G. (2019). The impact the Sport Education curriculum model has on physical activity accrual during early field experience of a secondary methods course. Iowa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HwFc0ijW7X3yYAsvONcwqpPVWTBn7bJv. The purpose of this study was to determin...

Thomas, A.*, Hewson, B. * & Pennington, C. G. (2019). An Interview with Division III Midwest Conference Assistant Wrestling Coach Kenny Anderson. Iowa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Xib1aHekajS8IW_0OpLumZYUVOBRblDI. Two of Cornell College’s promising student-athletes, Benjamin H...

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of a physical education teacher’s apparent age on middle school students’ learning and perceptions of the teacher. Two hundred and seventy three middle school students were randomly assigned to view one of two virtually identical films of swimming lessons taught by the same teacher. During the youn...

The aim of this book is to discuss the concepts, challenges, and successes related to developing character and moral decision making in students of a variety of ages. My hope is that readers use the information and suggestions shared in this book to improve their practice by emphasizing the elements which advances the moral decision making skills,...

Pennington, C. G. (2018). The Cost of an “All-Nighter”: Sleep and College Athletes’ Performance. Professional Association of Athlete Development Specialists Research Digest. 3(6), 6. College students are often pressed to complete a multitude of tasks in a limited amount of time. This is especially true for student-athletes with additional responsi...

Pennington, C. G. (2018). Sports(manship)Center: Messages of poor sportsmanship, violence and immorality. Professional Association of Athlete Development Specialists Research Digest. 3(1), 7. The sporting environment is shaped in a number of ways including via media outlets such as television, movies, and print. Some suggest the potential role of...

Pennington, C. G. & Webb, L. M.* (2020). Inclusive Physical Activity and Physical Education for Students with Epilepsy. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. 91(2), 52-53. DOI:10.1080/07303084.2020.1696135. Chances are if you are an educator for any more than a few years you are likely to come into contact with numerous students unde...

Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder of connective tissue found in approximately one in 5,000 to 10,000 individuals. Individuals with Marfan syndrome often unknowingly participate in certain physical activities and sports, putting themselves at risk for aortic dissection. This article will present guidelines for physical activity and exercise for...

There is an opportunity for physical education (PE) to address two important concerns affecting American youth: the worsening social decline of communities and schools, and the increase of childhood obesity and sedentary-related illnesses.The physical educator has the opportunity to create situations that will enhance the social and character devel...

Numerous benefits have been associated with participation in sport, especially in school sport programs. Research shows that participation in sport and developmentally appropriate competitive physical education has laid the foundation for youth participants to develop life skills, values, and character beneficial to individuals' personal growth in...

The purpose of this article is to review the literature relative to applications of the Transtheoretical Model to exercise interventions, and to provide considerations for health professionals while using the Transtheoretical Model in their practice. The components of the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change are parsed and analyzed to review t...

Harmon, H.*, Siegien, J.*, Watt, C.*, Rebers, K.,* & Pennington, C. G. (2019). Attachment Theory in Coach-Athlete Relationships. Professional Association of Athlete Development Specialists Research Digest. 3(9), 14-16.

This article examines how the sport education pedagogical model can be used to help students develop social responsibility and prosocial values in physical education.

Very limited research explains students’ prosporting responses to specific motivational climates, and many physical educators do little other than casually observe the sporting behaviors of students in their care. Therefore, the purposes of this article are to encourage physical educators and youth coaches to develop and maintain a task-mastery mot...

Successful implementation of a sport nutrition program requires an understanding of the athletic culture, physiological milestones, and life stressors faced by college athletes– there may be no better individual who encompasses such a breadth of understanding of the athletes’ culture as the coach due to the coach often functioning as an educator, c...

Fostering prosocial behaviors and building character is an important quality of interscholastic sport, as participation has the potential to advance moral reasoning skills and improve sportspersonship among its participants (Pennington, 2017). Many have assumed that prosocial habits can be learned through participation in sport, since sport provide...

In higher education, doctoral training has been identified as a process of stewardship development whereby individuals learn the knowledge and skills required to advance their respective disciplines. Self-study of teacher education practices is one approach that has gained the interest of doctoral students to help them understand their own developm...

The purpose of this scholarship is to review the literature relative to applications of the Transtheoretical Model to exercise interventions, and to provide considerations for health professionals while using the Transtheoretical Model in their practice. The components of the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change are parsed and analyzed to revi...

Introduction: Aerobic fitness is an important metric to consider regarding soccer play. Accurate assessment of aerobic fitness involves expensive equipment for profiling the metabolic response to graded exercise testing, which is typically performed in laboratory settings. The Pacer test, also referred to as the 20-meter multiple staged shuttle tes...

INTRODUCTION Body composition has been shown to be highly related to performance in athletes. However, most of the available research has been performed in adult subjects. Thus, there is limited information regarding the relationship between body composition and performance in young athletes. PURPOSE The purpose of the study was to determine the re...

This activity session describes the origins and rules of Beep Baseball - a modification of Baseball for the visually impaired.

This highly competitive practical session will highlight controversial issues in PE. You will be provided with strategies and resources that increase healthy and socially desirable competitive values within your students. Students will leave your gymnasium feeling like responsible citizens.

The purpose of this study is to determine what impact preservice teachers had on their pupils accruing the recommended levels of MVPA during their early field experience of a secondary methods course teaching using the Sport Education curriculum model.

Learning the game of Netball through the TGfU Model