The purpose of this study is to investigate how a group of students experience their learning when working in groups, and determine if they prefer to work individually or in groups. This study will also investigate what the students believe that they learn when working in groups. The study is based on these two questions: How and what do students perceive that they learn from working in groups? Do the students in my study prefer to work in groups or individually? The method I have used to retrieve information has been to interview four different students. The interviews were individual; I did so to get a deeper view of how students perceive their own learning in groups. I chose a selection of students, two girls and two boys ranging in the ages from 15 to 16 years old, these pupils were all attending the same school. Social Constructivism is the theoretical perspective that my essay is based on. The key concepts of my essay are based on the terms "the horizon of understanding" which come from the hermeneutic research tradition and life-world which is a central concept in the phenomenological research tradition. The results from this study show that students believe that the spoken interaction in groups is important. The students believe that their individual learning can be developed further with the help of oral interactions, an example given is when students embrace new ideas and thoughts by talking to each other in groups. Based on the results of the interviews, students feel that their individual learning is affected positively when working in groups. This study shows that when students are being asked if they prefer to work in groups or individually, the answer is evenly divided, but with a small majority favoring to work in groups. However, almost all students who participated in my study believe that working in group is almost all the time a fun method of working and studying.

The mechanism of how physical education teacher education (PETE) students learn to teach physical education (PE) has been considered as a missing link in a comprehensive curriculum of PETE research. Previous studies found that the PETE students’ acculturation phase has a big impact on the students’ beliefs towards teaching PE as it is referred to as Occupational Socialization Theory (OST). The purpose of this study was to explore how PETE students learn to teach PE based on their experiences being taught PE and coached in a sport and their reflections on their emerging practices whilst taking a course EPHE 452 – Strategies for teaching games, a culminating course in their physical and health education teachable area. The study used two qualitative research methods, autoethnography and participant observation ethnography, within a case study design methodology. Data collection included the case studies’ interviews of three PETE students and the EPHE 452 course observation throughout COVID-19 pandemic in Spring semester in 2021. The findings showed that PETE students carried beliefs from their acculturation phase to their professional phase, while the teacher education program has a positive impact on the PETE students’ beliefs towards teaching PE. Four organizing course themes with sub-themes emerged; insights on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the course becoming a mediating theme. Several effective methods were used to develop PETE students’ abilities to teach PE, such as the online resources, group discussions, the practicum experience and the reading of articles. The COVID-19 pandemic created opportunities and challenges among PETE students who took EPHE 452 course in Spring Semester in 2021 that have led to a rethinking and redevelopment of the EPHE 452 course. / Graduate