Teaching tennis to non-specialized students by case study method (cases of students studying tennis at the University of Danang)



The article studies the teaching by case study method in the 2–3 Physical Education module (Tennis) belonging to the elective modules in physical education program for non-specialized of the University of Danang's students. The study was carried out at the University of Economics — the University of Danang. The article has analyzed theoretical and practical issues for teaching movement techniques in Tennis by the case study method, thereby presenting the process of a teaching activity using this method to form movement techniques in Tennis for students.

Keywords: Case study method, teaching tennis, movement techniques, physical education, non-specialized

1. Introduction

«The core purpose of education is to prepare young people for life after school” (Robinson), therefore, learning and acquiring knowledge must be linked to life situations and professional practice.

The case method is an active teaching method in which students are placed in a real-life situation or in a real-world context to solve the situation's problems. This teaching method can increase learning interest, promote students' thinking ability, and link theoretical knowledge with practice.

Teaching physical education in schools at all levels in general and physical education program for non-specialized from the past to the present has been conditionality, not promoting self-control, forming physical training habits and developing intensive sports movements. By teaching practice, we believe that flexible applying the case study method will bring positiveness and initiative to learners, form good movement techniques in tennis, and improve the quality of teaching physical education in university.

2. Scientific basis of the research problem
   1. Research overview

Actually, there are many different names for this method: case-based teaching method, case study method, or, more briefly, the case method.

It can be said that the idea of applying life situations to teaching had existed since the time of Confucius when he used natural conditions and stories encountered in daily life to convey knowledge and commandments to his students. However, until the end of the 19th century, the use of situations in teaching was quite widespread, first in training in law, medicine and business administration. In recent years, the case study method has also been applied in teaching in Vietnamese universities, especially in the fields of Medicine, Law, and Business Administration, although it is not yet widespread.

The case study method has been widely used in pedagogical training, especially in the past 20 years. It has proved to be highly effective in making learning relevant to practice and more lively and exciting lessons. However, in teaching sports, especially physical education program for non-specialized, almost no one applies this method.

2.2. Case study method overview

2.2. 1 Situation

There are different definitions of a situation. According to the Vietnamese Dictionary, a situation is the total of things happening at a place, at a specific time that forces people to think, act, cope, and find a solution. A situation can also be understood as a description/presentation of a real-life case that presents an unresolved problem, requiring the reader (listener) to solve that problem.

2.2 .2 Teaching situations

According to Boehrer (1995): «A situation is a story, with a plot and characters, related to a particular situation, from an individual or group perspective, and often with incomplete action. It's a concrete and detailed story that brings the vibrancy and complexity of real life into the classroom».

Teaching situations are typical; describe real or fictional events and circumstances to help learners understand and apply knowledge. Situations stimulate learners to analyze, comment, evaluate, and present their ideas, thereby gradually capturing knowledge or applying acquired knowledge to real-life situations.

Standard of a good situation:

In terms of content, the situation must:

— Educational

— Contain contradictions and are provocative

— Create interest for learners.

— Identify issues that are important and relevant to learners,...

In terms of form, the situation must:

— Have a vivid expression

— Use short, concise, and anonymous terms

— Clearly structured, unambiguous, and easy to understand

— Focused, and relatively complete so that there is no need to learn too much information,...

2.2 .3 Case study method in teaching

The case study method is a specific method of teaching problem-solving base on the situation, which is the main object of the teaching process. According to Nguyen Huu Lam (2003), “the case method is a teaching technique in which the key elements of a case study are presented to learners for the purposes of illustration or problem-solving experiences.” [3]

3. Research content

3.1. Object and scope of the study

The article studies the teaching by the case study method in the 2–3 physical education module (Tennis) belonging to the elective modules in the universal physical education program of the University of Danang's students and semesters 1 and 2 of the 2021–2022 school year. The study was carried out at the University of Economics — the University of Danang, observed and experimented on 3 classes with 90 students.

3.2. Why should we use the case study method in teaching Tennis?

Tennis is a sport that originated in England; clear evidence of this establishment is that Wimbledon is the first Grand Slam tournament held in 1887 and is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments today. Since then, Tennis has been widely spread by merchants around the world. Tennis was formerly considered a sport of the nobility and the rich in Vietnam. It is no longer valid in recent years but has gradually become a sport of everyone, every home, anyone can play it anywhere, in any situation. Since 2018, the University of Danang has included Tennis in the physical education program for non-specialized, in the elective modules at the member educational institution, the University of Economics. Due to some limitations regarding yard conditions and equipment, the number of open classes is minimal. However, each semester always maintains a stable 1–2 courses with up to 100 students registered per semester.

Physical education is an organic part of education at all levels from grade 1 to grade 12, a certificate that must meet the output standards of university training programs. However, in reality, the organization of teaching has not been paid enough attention, invested and innovated in teaching methods to achieve its fundamental purposes. The teaching methods in physical education program for non-specialized are traditional and mostly obsolete, failing to meet the development trend of modern teaching methods and not fully exploiting modern technological facilities. The standard process of a physical education module revolves around 4 steps: presentation (verbal explanation) — demonstration of movements — self-practice — examination, and evaluation. Obsolete methods and limited professional investment also limit the quality of training.

Considering the method of teaching movement techniques, competition tactics, and arbitration methods in the sports program in general and tennis in particular need to be improved and innovated to meet the goals and output standards of comprehensive worker training in modern society. In addition, introducing the case study method into the physical education program for non-specialized will help improve the effectiveness of physical education in universities and promote the movement of high-achieving exercise and sports competition.

In Vietnam, tennis is still entirely new, strange and has not developed in-depth. Tennis is an individual sport focusing on movement techniques and competition tactics to succeed in confrontation. Therefore, applying the case study method helps learners be proactive in analyzing and grasping strategies and tactics. The initial technical reception is no longer rigid and confusing but intuitive and specific. Each movement is shown in the competition video clips, which are very vivid and easy to understand. Through observing and analyzing techniques, learners can master each direction of the movement, facilitating the practice of individual movement techniques and application to specific competition situations.

3.3. Usage of the case study method in tennis

3.3.1. Teaching content s can apply the case study method

In the Tennis module, the contents that can be taught by the case study method are pretty diverse, including 3 main modules with the following specific content components: (1) Movement techniques; (2) Competition tactics; (3) Arbitration method. The content of movement techniques is deployed and taught with the most time. Therefore, usually, this content is selected by us to conduct different teaching methods, including the case study method.

During a semester, the following movement techniques are often taught:

Content composition of movement technique:

How to hold the racket

The polishing technique and catching technique

Forehand technique

Movement technique

Polishing forehand technique diagonally

Polishing technique with one-handed backhand and two-handed backhand

Polishing technique with one-handed backhand and two-handed backhand diagonally across the field.

Polishing technique with one-handed backhand and two-handed backhand in a straight line of the court.

3.3.2. The process of teaching two-handed backhand polishing technique by case study method

3.3.2.1. Prepare

The preparation stage plays a significant role in effectively conducting teaching content by the case study method. Things to prepare are as follows:

— For the teacher:

• Selecting and providing professional materials for learners
• Selecting and preparing video clips of conduct and competition content to make case studies
• Preparing learning conditions; classrooms are equipped with projectors and loudspeakers.

— For learners:

• Reading document No. 1 (Bac Ninh Sports University, Tennis — Techniques and Training Methods, Hanoi Sports Publishing House, 2011) pages 110 to 118.
• Reading document number No.2 (Lu Zhihua and Zou Lin, Tennis, Jinghua Publishing House, 1997) pages 38 to 41.
• Reading document No. 3 (Vu Nhu Y (compiled), Guide to playing tennis, Sports Publishing House, 2001) pages 34 to 38.
• Watching a video clip with detailed instructions for each movement technique performed by the instructor (censored by the specialized faculty) at the link https://youtu.be/EvikM1X8Gqo
• Watching a video clip detailing the two-handed backhand technique of a world tennis star provided by the instructor at the link https://youtu.be/ojNI2h7Ct0I
• Preparing and bringing 1 laptop for each group.

3.3.2.2. Conducting classroom teaching

A physical education session for non-specialized students at the University of Danang usually lasts 100 minutes. For the case study and analysis to be effective, it must occur during this time.

At the beginning of the lesson, the lecturer will organize a class group and provide a case video clip for students to study at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfhlYB6eL4c. Because the match time is very long, each group in the class will research and analyze according to the time allocation. There are 7 groups, and each group is in charge of 30 minutes in turn according to the match's progress.

The content of the study focuses on the two-handed backhand technique with the following suggested questions:

1. Counting the number of times each athlete makes a two-handed backhand tennis stroke
2. Analyzing the situation and the reason the athlete uses a two-handed backhand, which clearly states the effect of each two-handed backstroke.
3. Analyzing the stages of the two-handed backstroke
4. After studying the video clip for 30 minutes while watching and actively taking notes, each group has time to discuss, analyze and write a short report in 20 minutes.
5. After finishing group work, each group will send a representative to present their group's situation analysis report to the class. The lecturer will comment, analyze, supplement and summarize each group's work.
6. At the end of the discussion, the instructor should have 5–7 minutes to re-analyze the stages of the two-handed backhand technique and show the movement from slow to fast.

3.3.2.3. After class

The purpose of teaching sports is always to practice movements and apply learned techniques in competition. Therefore, analyzing movement techniques in video clips is a way to help learners understand each technique, thereby having a basis for long-term and effective practice.

So after the lesson, the learner's task is to practice the technique of Polishing backhand smoothly.

Usually, the instructor will continue to provide famous match links for learners to continue studying, imitating, and practising.

After practising well on their own, the groups will continue to work (outside of school hours) by going back to each member's movement technique. Video clips will be broadcast, and the whole group will analyze and gives suggestions for each person's movements (based on a comparison with the movement technique video posted on the Youtube channel of the Faculty of Physical Education). This way will help you analyze and evaluate the right and wrong levels in the initial movement technique and make suggestions to correct your mistakes in groups. Cases of disagreement on opinions are recorded to seek the professional opinions of the lecturers.

4. Conclusions and recommendations

4.1. The effectiveness of the case study method for teaching tennis

After applying the teaching of movement techniques by the case study method, the quality of teaching has improved markedly. Some direct effects, such as class time, take place vividly and intuitively. Learners actively occupy knowledge through multi-sensory movement, independent of the lecturer's teaching and then try to remember and imagine, similar to the traditional teaching process. Thanks to the quick and effective acquisition of movement technique principles, the practice of movement techniques also takes place smoothly. The instructor deployed the training activities gently without groping from the theory — teaching through actual actions.

In addition, after directly studying the situation, learners can form a habit of self-study, arise the need to search for resources for self-study activities, and practice self-training to improve their skills and advance to the competition. This method stimulates learners' interest in learning; learners are no longer passive towards learning physical education. When there is an interest in learning and training, the studying no longer has the psychology of sub-subjects, conditional subjects, and the meaning of physical education is also really promoted in teaching.

In addition to qualitative analysis, we also surveyed the opinions of learners and surveyed participants as follows:

SCHOOL YEAR	QUANTITY	GENDER
		MALE	FEMALE
2021–2022 (semester 1)	56	26	30
2021–2022 (semester 2)	34	34	0

The total number of students participating in the survey is 90 students. The results obtained are as follows: 100 % of the students participating in the survey choose Agree (56 %) and Completely agree (44 %) with “The case study method makes mastering movement techniques faster, more vivid and more effective” and «The case study method helps learners improve their ability to practice movements», as well as «the case study method makes the lesson more interesting».

Through surveys, it can be initially confirmed that the effectiveness of this method for improving the quality of teaching tennis for non-specialized students in particular and individual sports in general for students studying physical education at university nowadays. In the future, we will continue to carry out experimental activities and other quantitative studies to confirm more clearly.

4.2. Some proposal

Teaching by case study method is not new, but it is pretty strange for physical education modules. The article's author has done this for many semesters and found the positive effects of this method, so he wants to apply it on a large scale. For the best performance, the necessary conditions for the physical education department are to be fully equipped with presentation equipment such as projectors with loudspeakers or widescreen televisions to analyze discussion situations. At the same time, the internet connection must be strong, meeting good access to social networking platforms such as Youtube or other global data channels.

References:

1. AL.Secuda (1998), The Tennis Handbook (translated book), Da Nang Publishing House.
2. Boehrer, J. (1995). How to teach a case. Kennedy School of Government Case Programme, Case No C18–95–1285.0 http://www.ksgcase.harvard.edu
3. Charles Applewhaite (2000), Practice 500 Tennis techniques (translated book), Sports Publishing House, Hanoi.
4. Tran Quoc Doan (editor) (2006), The Law of Tennis, Sports Publishing House, Hanoi.
5. Bac Ninh Sports University (2011), Tennis — Techniques and training methods, Sports Publishing House, Hanoi.