The Teachers’ Approach to the Theoretical Knowledge Taught in Online Physical Education Classes During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Context: In the current period, researchers in the field of physical education (PE) have highlighted the need for a theoretical component to support practical activity. This aims to provide students with a rational understanding of the objectives, principles and concepts underlying this discipline. Objective: The Covid-19 pandemic forced the Romanian government to move the educational process to the online environment. So, given this situation, we tried to find out if the PE teachers chose to teach theoretical content during this period. Procedure: A two-part questionnaire was designed for PE teachers: in the first part demographic information is requested, and in the second part, they were asked to provide answers to 8 items. For each item in the second part, teachers had to choose from 5 answer options built on the likert scale: <Not at all>, <A little>, <Enough>, <Much>, <Very much>. Results: The teachers said that they taught <Much> or <Very much> nutritional knowledge (43%), behavioral knowledge 48% and information about famous athletes (46%). But, 53% of them said they used the PE textbook <A little> or <Not at all>. Conclusion & Recommendations: During the period in which physical education took place online, the teachers stated that they taught a vast theoretical content. However, for the most part, the contents taught were not those in the PE textbook. In the future, clearer delimitations of the importance of theoretical knowledge are needed, as well as clarifications regarding the theoretical contents that must be mastered by students.