Personalized System of Instruction Model: Teaching Health-Related Fitness Content in High School Physical Education

This study assessed the use of a personalized system of instruction (PSI) to teach a high school personal post-rehabilitation fitness unit. A course workbook was designed to provide the students with a basic introduction to the unit, class rules and policies, learning objectives, content-based modules, and methods of assessment. Based on criteria used to verify effective use of PSI in a physical education setting, implementation of the PSI unit in this study was successful. Student comments indicated that self-paced mastery learning, one of the major characteristics of PSI, was a new experience for them. As students became more familiar with the model, they enjoyed the structure and material being presented. Teacher comments indicated that after explaining and establishing the PSI system, very little teaching time was spent on classroom management. The majority of teaching time was spent providing individualized feedback to students. PSI offers an alternative approach to teaching and learning in physical education as well as other content areas.