TEACHING FOR UNDERSTANDING - A MODEL FOR IMPROVING DECISION-MAKING DURING GAME PLAY

A predominant area of instruction in school physical education program s is game play. Effective decision making is important to the successf ul execution of skills. Unfortunately, the task of teaching effective decision making in varying game situations is not easy. The demands of the game require far more than simply physical skillfulness. Game pla y is interwoven with numerous decision-making opportunities for the pa rticipant. Successful game players must make these decisions in an eff ective and timely manner. The purpose of this article is to compare tw o models of game instruction: the technique model and the ''games for understanding'' model. This analysis indicates that the games for unde rstanding model provides a more viable way of teaching strategic decis ion making for game players. Included will be discussions on the vario us theories that contrast the two approaches. A final section provides suggestions for future research into the validity of the ''games for understanding model.''