1. • WHAT IS GAME SENSE?
• IMPORTANCE OF GAME SENSE AS A TEACHING APPROACH
• STRENGTHS OF GAME SENSE AS A TEACHING APPROACH
2. WHAT IS GAME SENSE?
Game Sense (GS) is a variant teaching approach that
has been used in Physical Education (PE) that comes
the Teaching Games for Understanding (model). It
centres on the game and not on the distinct
techniques or skills that traditional approaches
focuses on where certain skills need to be conquered
prior to playing the games (Light, Curry & Mooney,
2014).
3. WHAT IS GAME SENSE?
Game Sense activities allow students to stop and reflect in
a group discussion and this enhances their development
of understanding to frame knowledge and enhance skills
as the games become more complex.
Game Sense approach is facilitated by the teacher’s use of
questioning which plays a positive impact on the cognitive
development of learners and makes learning more
engaging and fun than the traditional teacher directed-
approach (Light, 2012).
4. IMPORTANCE OF GAME SENSE AS A TEACHING APPROACH
A Games Sense teaching approach
is embedded in Physical Education
to uncover learning in participating
in adapted games to create
meaning in relation to the sport/full
game and to enhance skills as wells
as understanding (Light, 2012).
In learning through Game Sense, the
questioning, reflection and
language upon experience are
important features of Game Based
(GB) learning. Learning occurs firstly
through the initial experience and
then it occurs after through
reflecting upon the experience that
occurred (Light, Curry & Mooney,
2014).
5. WHY GAME SENSE SHOULD BE USED AS A TEACHING APPROACH
Game sense focuses on:
• High order thinking
• Tactical and strategic thinking
• Problem solving
• Adopting a game sense approach enables students to be
tactically aware and think of better strategies about game
concepts during a game, in addition they develop
fundamental movement skills and have fun.
• Game sense approach makes the teacher a facilitator rather
than the director. It is inquiry based approach and student
centered (O’leary, 2016).
6. WHY GAME SENSE SHOULD BE USED AS A TEACHING APPROACH
• Game sense enables students to develop a wide range of
skills and understanding from both verbal and nonverbal
cooperation between peers and between the students and
teacher.
• Social constructivism stresses the importance of social
interaction, which is that we a learnt a lot through
communication and collaboration with others than on our
own.
(Light, Curry & Mooney, 2014).
7. WHY GAME SENSE SHOULD BE USED AS A TEACHING APPROACH
• Embedding a Game Sense approach in Physical Education
allow students to learn how to play games in modified
games that are fitted to their abilities and the teacher
promotes to students that the aim of the lesson is not just
understanding on how to do achieve the skills but also,
where, when and why it is implemented (Light, Curry &
Mooney, 2014).
• Game Sense approach improves students’ tactical
awareness.
8. REFERENCES
Light, R. L. (2012). Game Sense: Pedagogy for performance, participation and enjoyment. London:
Routledge.
Light, R., Curry, C., & Mooney, A. (2014). Game Sense as a model for delivering quality teaching in
physical education. Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 5(1), 67-81.
O’leary, N. (2016). Learning informally to use the ‘full version’ of teaching games for understanding.
European Physical Education Review, 22(1), 3-22.
