Teaching Handball Game Rules with Computer Simulation

Abstract

This research aims to teach pre-service teachers the rules of the international handball game through a simulation developed using the Tactic3D program. The study was carried out in a single group pre-test and post-test experimental design. A total of 32 teacher candidates (13 females and 19 males, mean age: 18.84) enrolled in the Physical Education and Sports Teaching program of Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University Faculty of Sport Sciences in the 2022-2023 academic year participated in the research. The students were selected from among the teacher candidates who had not taken handball lessons before, did not participate in the competition as licensed in the branch of handball, and had not played handball before. A descriptive information form and the Handball Game Rules Knowledge Test developed in the current study were used as data collection tools. The research data were collected online in the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. The obtained data were analyzed with SPSS 22 program. According to the findings of the study, there was a statistically significant difference between the pre-test (49.32) and post-test mean scores (85.26) of the participants (p<0.05). In addition, there was a significant difference in favor of females between genders regarding post-test scores (p<0.05). Concerning the findings, it is seen that simulation training contributes to the handball knowledge level of teacher candidates. Consequently, it can be suggested that educational tools, as in the current research, can be added to the undergraduate education of prospective teachers and used as a tool to enrich teaching.