Teaching Games for Understanding in School Handball: A Controlled Pre-Post Study in Brazil

A 2026 controlled pre-post study with 63 Brazilian students aged 11–13 years examined the effects of a Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) handball unit compared to Direct Instruction. The study, authored by Rodrigo Márcio de Oliveira Silva, assessed changes in motivation, cognitive flexibility, and technical-tactical indicators over 20 lessons. Data were analyzed using nonparametric longitudinal models based on Wald-Type Statistics.

Use Cases

• Compare the effects of TGfU versus Direct Instruction on student enjoyment and competence based on MPAM-R survey results.
• Analyze changes in technical-tactical behaviors like inaccurate passes and occupying open spaces during small-sided handball games.
• Explore the relationship between physical education interventions and cognitive flexibility using exploratory Stroop test outcomes.

Strengths

• Includes pre- and post-intervention data for 63 students across three distinct instructional conditions.
• Reports specific statistical results with effect sizes (e.g., enjoyment increased from 4.69 to 6.42 in the TGfU group, r=0.876).
• Study design involved 20 lessons of 50 minutes, providing a structured intervention timeline.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Allocation occurred at the class level with one class per condition and without blinding, limiting causal inference.
• The dataset is small (32.1 KB), indicating limited scope and likely a summary of results rather than raw observation data.

Provenance

Source

Rodrigo Márcio de Oliveira Silva via figshare

Collection Method

Data were collected from a controlled study with three intact Brazilian public-school physical education classes.

Time Range

The study period is not explicitly stated, but data was published in 2026.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-19 04:21:00; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Brazilian public schools