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The concept of expertise is an appealing topic in numerous domains, including sport. Research suggests that the path leading to expertise in sport is significantly influenced by the development of specific components, such as knowledge, skill, and game-performance (Thomas and Thomas, 1994). A relatively new technique in the field of teaching and coaching is the use of video games as a mode of instruction (Swing and Anderson, 2008). The purpose of this study was to address the question of whether video games can improve declarative and procedural sport knowledge. Twenty-seven volunteers were recruited through flyers and word of mouth at a university in a Midwest community. Measurements included an American football knowledge (pre- and post) test, survey of experience, and six football practice sessions using a Microsoft X-box. The project was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB), Human Subjects Review Committee. Knowledge test scores increased significantly from pre- to post-test [t (26) =-4.997, p = 0.0001]; the improvements were moderate (effect size = 0.66). From practice one to practice six (time) the average speed of decisions improved significantly, but accuracy did not. Knowledge increased regardless of the experience level, but the largest improvements in decision accuracy took place at the lowest experience level. This research supports the idea that video games could be an effective tool to increase sport specific knowledge, particularly in novices.

Individuals are both more likely to participate in sports, exercise, and physical activity when they are skilled. Therefore, motor skills and skilled movement should be viewed as prerequisites to a physically active lifestyle. Children and adolescents who have achieved fundamental motor competence are also believed to perceive themselves as being competent although there is inconsistency in the results so far reported in the literature. Despite the unprecedented growth home homeschool education, studies have not examined the development of motor competency of homeschool students or its relationship to confidence. The current investigation examined the influence fundamental motor skill development and self-confidence of students enrolled in a university homeschool physical education program. Results from the pre-test (M = 13.92, SD = 2.8) and post-test (M = 20.75, SD = 3.5) fundamental motor skill observations indicate that the homeschool program led to an improvement in overall skill, t(52) = 12.05, p< .001 (E.S. = 1.06). Dependent-samples t-test produced significant results from pre to post for research participants [t (1,52) = 27.26 , p<.05, E.S. = 1.10], who improved their self-efficacy over the course of the study [baseline M self-efficacy = 71.92, SD= 16.52, endline M self-efficacy = 88.87, SD =15.34]. This study showed that a university homeschool physical education program can lead to improvements in the developmental of fundamental motor skills and self-confidence.

The main purpose of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Efficacy for Standards-Based Instruction (ESBI) scale, developed by the current investigators, and to compare the ESBI with two other self-efficacy scales that had been used in physical education (TESPE, Chase, Lirgg, & Carson, 2001;TSES, Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). The ESBI, TESPE, and TSES were administered to 60 physical education teachers from 16 school districts in Iowa. Cronbach's alpha (internal consistency) for the ESBI was .96, and the Equal-Length Spearman Brown split-half coefficient inferred good reliability (r = .90). The ESBI demonstrated better validity and reliability than the previously developed TESPE (Cronbach's alpha = .89; Spearman Brown split-half coefficient = .86) and TSES (Cronbach's alpha = .84; Spearman Brown split-half coefficient = .79). As a test of concurrent validity for ESBI, Pearson's product moment correlations were performed to test the extent to which the total efficacy scores and subscales were related. The ESBI, TESPE, and TSES all had significant positive correlations with each other (p < .01). Validation of the three selfefficacy scales was also performed using the ranked Physical Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (PECAT) score for each district as an independent measure. The ESBI scale produced a low but significant correlation (r = .28, p < .05) with PECAT, but TSES and TESPE were not significant. This suggested that ESBI was more related to standards and benchmarks than the other two measures. These results indicate that the ESBI has shown good (versus TESPE) or better (versus TESES) validity and reliability compared with previous work. This work also supports Bandura's (1986) notion of specificity for self-efficacy.