Curriculum Design for Teaching High-School Tennis - Essay Example

Shandy Roque Maryrose Roque Order #161903 Academia Research 09 April 2007 Curriculum Design for Teaching High School Tennis Tennis is a game that involves striking a hollow rubber ball covered by felt over a net and into the court of the opposing player or team. A game with two players is called singles. And, the one with two teams composed of two players is called doubles. This game started in England in the late 19th century and was first propagated in English-speaking countries. It used to be a game that was exclusive to the upper class. Today, it is an Olympic sport that is played worldwide by people of all ages and classes and is followed by millions of spectators and fans. It has also become a part of physical education programs in colleges and high schools. The objective of the researcher is to create a curriculum for teaching tennis to high school students. This curriculum must also show the relation of tennis to other disciplines. Since tennis is a game that requires accuracy and precision, certain principles in biomechanics and racket science should be considered. The understanding of these two subjects requires the application of math and physics. Also, since the sport requires a lot of movement and is very tasking for the body, a little knowledge in physiology can help them avoid or lessen injuries or muscle pains after the game. Human Physiology is actually a combination of anatomy and biochemistry. Therefore, this curriculum will also enhance the students’ knowledge and appreciation of the following subjects: physics, mathematics, anatomy and organic chemistry. Since there are many specialized terms associated with curriculum design, these terms are not defined the same way by many professionals in this field. According to David Armstrong, these are the basic design concepts that must be considered when one is designing a curriculum: 1.) scope, 2.) sequence, 3.) articulation, 4.) continuity, and 5.) balance.1 Scope “refers to the extent and depth of content coverage.”2 This is very significant in curriculum development because of its dependence on instructional time. Since the time given for a certain subject is fixed, expanding the coverage in one area would lead to the reduction of the coverage of another area. The scope can be molded by these considerations: 1.) legal constraints, 2.) content significance, 3.) content authenticity, 4.) motivational appeal, 5.) content complexity, and 6.) the instructor’s background and support-material availability.3 Legal constraints refer to the decisions that cannot be changed by the curriculum developers. These are usually mandated by the state, specifying the subjects to be discussed and the amount of time given for each subject. Since physical education is required in high schools, this constraint is not considered in the creation of the curriculum. Content significance refers to the prioritization of basic skills which are prerequisites to further learning. In this curriculum, the basic strokes that are needed to play in a tennis match would be included. These are: 1.) the forehand drive, 2.) the backhand drive, 3.) the serve, and 4.) the lob and the volley. Of course, the students would also be given a basic knowledge of how the game should be played. This includes lectures on 1.) rules and scoring, 2.) terminology, and 3.) singles strategy.4 Content authenticity refers to the accuracy of the specific information given in the general categories of the content selected. This is very easy to assure when it comes to general facts. Unfortunately, subjects that involve an instructor’s judgment may cause some difficulties during the delivery of information. In a high school set up, students have varying interests and experiences. It is possible to encounter a student who may have a background in tennis and who may know more or as much as the instructor. If the content is not authentic, the instructor’s credibility as well as the program may be questioned. In this case, the instructor must research on concepts that would back up the content of his program. For example, in teaching them the footwork and strokes, he must have some background on biomechanics and racket science so that he could justify the effectiveness of the techniques he has incorporated in his program. Motivational appeal takes into account the appeal of the curriculum to the students. During the duration of the course, the instructor must always monitor the reactions of the students and must know how to change the way he presents a topic in order to spark the interest of his students. The problem with tennis is that it is a sport that requires a lot of coordination. Some students may do poorly during class. This can cause a decrease in their interest in the sport. In these cases, the instructor must present some drills that would improve their performance in the sport and show them that it is actually easier than it looks. Content complexity should be considered because the content of the curriculum must suit the level of the learners. In teaching tennis to high school students, the instructor must assume that the learners are all beginners. Changing the curriculum for the students who have some prior knowledge of the sport can inhibit the progress of the others. Giving additional instructions to the students who are ahead of the others can be done during individual practice. They can also be asked to become student assistants during the duration of the course. The instructor’s background and the support material availability are very important considerations that should be made when preparing a curriculum or proposing a subject. Tennis, for example, should be proposed only if a court is accessible. The area must also have walls so that the students can practice their strokes. Also, the materials that would be provided by the school should be considered. This way, the students can be oriented as to the materials they should bring during the course. Most high schools require their students to bring their own rackets. In this case, choosing a good racket should be a part of the curriculum. The instructor’s background, on the other hand, can dictate the contents of the curriculum because he would choose to emphasize topics that revolve around his areas of expertise. Sequence is the order in which the content is presented to the learners. It dictates which lessons or learning experiences must precede the others. In the curriculum presented in this paper, the program begins with an orientation, outlining the instructor’s expectations as well as the materials required in the class. Footwork and grips are then taught to the students. And, in the classes that followed, the different strokes beginning with the most basic to the more complicated strokes are taught: the forehand drive, the backhand drive, the serve and the lob and volley. The last part of the program includes a mock competition wherein the students are asked to form groups of two and participate in a doubles match. Articulation "refers to a relationship between two or more elements of the curriculum that is simultaneous rather than sequential."5 It is a correlation of the learning experiences a learner has in one subject to another. Because of its emphasis on this aspect, sometimes the word, correlation, is used instead of articulation. Also, since this term revolves around concurrent learning experiences, horizontal articulation is sometimes used to describe this term. These terms "emphasize that articulation reaches out laterally to cross subject-area boundaries in an effort to maximize potential relationships among many kinds of content."6 In teaching a sport like tennis, digressions from the curriculum can help the students understand the sport better. Using biomechanics in order to explain why certain stances and movements are needed in doing a stroke will help the student remember these points. Using racket science in order to explain why the ball must hit a certain area in the racket will help the student appreciate the importance of accuracy in the game. Of course, talking about possible injuries as well as means of avoiding them, would enhance the student’s situational awareness during the class. Also, by telling them how breathing properly and keeping themselves hydrated would prolong their stamina, the students would be more conscious of their breathing and water intake. This could lead to a relation to other disciplines like mathematics, physics, chemistry and anatomy. Continuity "focuses on the relationship between a subsequent learning experience and its vertical predecessor."7 Because of this definition, this term is sometimes referred to as vertical articulation. According to this concept, the instruction must be organized in such a way that the last points of a given learning experience must be linked with the starting points of the next one. The objective here is to make sure that there are smooth transitions between lessons, avoiding any interference with the progress of the learner. The transitions could be found in the presentation of the strokes and footwork. The instructor must be able to breakdown these movements so that the students would be able to practice the strokes and footwork alone. They would just need to refer to the points given by instructor for every step of the process. In the curriculum being discussed in this paper, the instructor teaches the footwork first, moves on to the stroke and ends with the combination of the two. Balance suggests that all the important components in an instructional program would be equally addressed in the curriculum. It makes sure that giving more emphasis on one component does not lessen the importance of another. In the curriculum presented in this paper, balance is shown by having “a fifty-fifty division of time between group and individual instruction.”8 After using half of the period in order to teach the class how to do a stroke, the next half of the period can be used to allow the students to practice on their own and be observed and coached individually by the instructor. In a sport where the accuracy of one’s movement is important, each student must be given equal attention in order to point out certain flaws in form and suggest means of correcting these flaws. Often, the development of the curriculum does not end with the organization of the content to major topics and subtopics. Because of the restricted time limits, establishing the relative values of the topics to be discussed is very important because the significance of each topic to a course may vary. And, the time that must be given for teaching each topic must be distributed based on its importance to the study. This led to the need for additional information in preparing curriculums that have an amount of time allocated for each topic. In order to do this, three major categories of learning must be considered: 1.) Cognitive learning, the “learning of traditional academic content associated with…basic school subjects”, 2.) Psychomotor Learning which “refers to outcomes that require learners to use the bodys muscular system”, and 3.) Affective Learning which “focuses on issues relating to attitudes and values.”9 Since tennis is a sport that deals with a lot of muscular movements, psychomotor learning is the category chosen for this paper. It is divided into four parts: 1.) awareness, 2.) individual components, 3.) integration, and 4.) free practice. In the awareness level, the student is expected to describe how the isolated components of psychomotor activities should be done properly. At this level, the student must be able to tell the instructor how his fingers are positioned when he uses the Eastern grip. He should also be able to describe the correct stance wherein he must stand with his feet slightly spread and his knees slightly bent, the throat of the racket resting on his left hand. Since complex psychomotor activities can have many components that are very difficult do at the same time, the student can be asked to demonstrate the individual components of an activity one at a time without making a mistake. In learning how to do the forehand drive, the student can first be coached to 1.) hold the racket with an Eastern grip, 2.) assume the correct stance, 3.) pivot his upper body by ninety degrees, 4.) pivot his shoulder, putting his weight on the right foot, and 5.) move the racket to the back. In the integration level, the movements mentioned above are combined with the swing wherein the student should: 1.) step forward on his left foot, 2.) swing as his weight shifts, raising the racket, and 3.) do a long, smooth follow through. Here, the student is supposed to do the whole movement smoothly and correctly. After the learner has absorbed the entire movement, he is then asked to practice without his instructor’s supervision. At this level, he should have internalized all the steps and does not need to be given instructions. He could now refine his movements in order to suit his body type. This is called the free practice stage. Below is a curriculum that embodies the different points tackled in the above paragraphs. It is an eight-week course that includes two, 90-minute periods per week. At the beginning of the first period, the class policies and regulations are explained to the students. They would be informed when the roll call would be done, when they would be dismissed, the policies for rainy days, the procedures for checking balls in and out of the supplies room and the clothing and equipment needed for the sport. The outline of the course and the expectations of the instructor would then be given. After giving them a brief description of the sport, the instructor would then instruct them how to find a good racket for the course. This can be related to some concepts in physics like moment, torque, and work can be added to the discussion. Moment, for example, "is the turning force pivoting the racquet head down when you hold the racquet parallel to the ground." It quantifies the heaviness of the racket when held parallel to the ground. This means that the mass of the racket is not the only factor that should be considered. The mass of the racket should be multiplied to its distance from the center of mass. If the racket is very light and has a balance point that is far from the hand, it will feel heavy when doing a swing because its moment is larger. Torque should also be considered when choosing a racket since "Some loss of energy could be expected from the conversion of torque into the subsequent forward catapulting force, due to absorption of torque in the bending of the racquet frame and stretching of the muscles, so it will be difficult to quantify the catapult effect. Note, however, that a stiff racquet (high Flex number) will not absorb as much of this bending force, and therefore a stiff racquet is a risk factor for tennis elbow."10 This is the reason why expert players prefer to use slim and flexible rackets which is capable of absorbing the torque in the frame bending, decreasing the catapult force that makes the racket move forward after impact. Another factor that should be considered is work. It is the measure of the effort needed by the player to swing his racket. "head-heavy racquets require a lot more work to hit the ball fast, which is bad. They are also hard on the wrist, elbow, and shoulder, which is worse."11 The students can also be taught to compute for the quality index of the racket by giving him the formula: M = r2 / I, where M is the mass of the racket, r is the balance in centimeters and I is the swing weight in kg-cm2. These values can be derived from the published specifications of the racket. The quality index is a very useful value because rackets with low quality indexes are better than those with high indexes. These principles would not only teach them how to find the best racket, they would also give them a practical application of physics and mathematics. During the orientation, the students may also be reminded to be conscious of their breathing as well as their water intake. The instructor may then input some details from Human Physiology. He could start by telling the students that proper water intake and breathing can help in maintaining the pH of the body. During the discussion, the students would be exposed to terms like lactic acid, acids, bases and buffer systems in the body. Respiration facilitates acid-base balance by releasing hydrogen ions with the carbon dioxide that we breathe out. Some of the hydrogen ions are also released with our urine. This is caused by the isolation of hydrogen ions which is facilitated by the different buffer systems in our bodies. The pH of the body should be maintained by releasing these ions. Otherwise, an increase in lactic acid in the body can cause muscle pains the day after the work out. Not only would this discussion teach them how to prolong their stamina and prevent one of the negative after-effects of exercise, it would show them the significance of Chemistry in their everyday activities. Before proceeding to the instruction of different grips, stances and footwork, the possible injuries that could be attained from the sport should also be mentioned. While discussing the mechanism in which the injuries could occur, the instructor could mention some terms in anatomy. This would not only encourage the students to value safety. They would also have an introduction to Anatomy. After giving all the reminders, the instructor can now show the students the grip, the stance and the footwork for the forehand drive. He would then ask the students to emulate him as he shows them the stance and footwork, giving pointers with each step. When he is convinced that the students have internalized the movement, the students are asked to practice at home before they are dismissed. The next period would be used to continue teaching the forehand drive. The swing would be demonstrated after they have reviewed the stance and footwork that was taught in the last lesson. The students would first practice the swing, identifying the direction of the racket as they move their hand. When they have become comfortable with the movement, they would be asked to do it with the footwork. They would then be asked to practice this movement on their own while the instructor moves around and corrects their mistakes individually. He would then ask them to pair up so that they could practice dropping the ball and stroking it over the net. The responsibility of the partner is to return the ball to the person doing the stroke by tossing it to him. Again, the instructor would have the opportunity to check their individual performance. The third to seventh period would be used to teach them the backhand, the volley and the lob using the psychomotor learning process which was also used for teaching the forehand drive. During the eighth period, there would be a lecture wherein they would be given pointers on how to play the two games: doubles and singles. This lecture would revolve around common terminologies, scoring, and strategies. And then, they would be paired off for doubles. The remaining periods would be used for a round robin doubles tournament. During these periods, the students who do not have a game would be asked to scrutinize their classmates’ movements. They would be asked to write down their remarks and submit them at the end of each period. Works Cited Alcamo, Edward. Barrons Anatomy and Physiology. New York: Barrons Educational Services, Inc., 1971. Armstrong, David. Developing and Documenting the Curriculum. Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon, 1989. Kenfield, John Jr. Teaching and Coaching Tennis. Iowa: WM C. Brown Company Publishers, 1971. McCutchen, William H. “Introduction to Racket Science." 15 August 2002. 1 April 2007 "Tennis." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 28 March 2007. 29 March 2007 . Read More