Examining the validity of an extended QDITC version for assessing the physical education teacher's behavior

The purpose of the present study was to examine the concurrent validity of E-QDITC, an extended version of the systematic observation instrument Qualitative Dimensions of Lesson Introduction, Task Presentation and Lesson Closure (QDITC; Byra, 1992), in experienced and inexperienced physical education teachers. QDITC evaluates teacher behaviors in a) lesson introduction and closure, and b) task presentation (before, during, and after task presentation). In Ε-QDITC, a category with nine behaviors that concern lesson schedule and organization was added. Thirty two in-service physical education teachers (n=32), 15 experienced and 17 inexperienced in using appropriately qualitative teaching aspects were observed and assessed with both versions of the instrument, in a total of four lessons each. The lessons were videotaped and then analyzed by two trained observers. Teachers' mean performance in the first and second pair of lessons constituted their first and second lesson score, respectively. Correlation analysis yielded a significant correlation between QDITC and Ε-QDITC performance (lessons and overall) for both groups. Similarly, regression analysis revealed that both experienced and inexperienced teachers' performance in Ε-QDITC highly accounted for their performance in QDITC. Paired samples t-test yielded no significant differences between QDITC and Ε-QDITC performance of experienced teachers whereas the result for inexperienced teachers was quite the opposite. Therefore, Ε-QDITC can be used for a more detailed assessment of the teaching behavior of physical education teachers, and especially of the experienced ones.