Video Editing: A Service-learning Assignment in Adapted Physical Education

Abstract

For most physical education teacher education (PETE) programs, the constraints surrounding the undergraduate curriculum (e.g., number of credit hours, dual content certificates such as health and physical education, content knowledge) limit PETE programs to offering only one course in adapted physical education (APE) with the expectation that this training is sufficient to prepare highly qualified teachers to teach students with disabilities in general and adapted physical education. The inclusion of service learning (SL) methods in the APE curriculum is one approach to facilitating the successful preparation of preservice teachers to teach students with disabilities by increasing their opportunity to connect information learned in their program to the “real world.” Assessment strategies used in the APE course must tap into this naturalistic setting of the SL experience and ensure preservice students are prepared to assume the duties of a future professional. This article discusses how an APE course used a video-editing SL project to document student learning and performance in the Adapted Physical Education National Standards and prepare future general PETE students to teach students with disabilities.