New PhD-student in Disability Research

Karin Bertills is a new PhD-student in Disability Research. Her research project is about Physical Education and Health – teaching style, grades and student self-efficacy.

This is how Karin Bertills describes her research work:

My project Physical Education and Health – teaching style, grades and student self-efficacy is about the Swedish school subject Physical Education and Health (PEH), how teaching affects students’ self-efficacy and grades. The study is a three-year longitudinal study with students aged 13-16. Developmentally it’s a period of major cognitive, social and emotional changes, coinciding with increasing knowledge requirements and usually with the transition of schools, peers and teachers in year 7. PEH is a subject where high physical function may compensate for low cognitive function by perceived self-efficacy in individuals. There are relations between self-efficacy, school achievement and mental health. Correlation has also been reported between year-nine-grades in PEH and future physical health in adults. Educational atmospheres such as a gym, overloaded with sensory perceptions make demands on teaching style to enable student learning. Research is limited on correlations of teaching, grading and self-efficacy and how this corresponds to functional disorders. It is interesting that girls in Sweden achieve higher grades than boys in all subjects but PEH, while decreasing mental health in girls has been reported during the last decade. I will explore what impact teaching style in PEH has on grades and self-efficacy in different groups of students related to their functional disposition.

For further information, contact Karin Bertills