Positive error-handling in TGfU-based basketball instruction: effects on tactical decision-making and the role of perceived classroom psychological safety
- 1Physical Education Teaching and Research Office, Department of Public Education, Anyang Vocational and Technical College , ,
Abstract
Background: Basketball learning involves rapid decisions and visible mistakes that may carry interpersonal risk. This study examined whether positive error-handling within Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) improved tactical decision-making and whether improvements were associated with changes in perceived classroom psychological safety.
Methods: Sixty students (30 male and 30 female) were individually randomized within gender strata before formation of two instructional classes, with one class per condition (n = 30 each). The same teacher delivered TGfU with positive error-handling (PEH) or neutral error-handling (NEH) over eight weeks. Tactical decision-making was assessed through standardized 3-on-3 games at pretest (T0), posttest (T1), and three-week retention (T2); psychological safety was assessed at T0 and T1. Passing, dribbling/driving, and shooting decisions were coded using the focused BALPAI rubric.
Results: Exploratory student-level analyses showed a condition × time interaction for decision-making, F(1.583, 91.821) = 9.89, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.146. PEH increased from M = 1.951 (SD = 0.202) at T0 to 2.304 (0.258) at T1 and 2.295 (0.279) at T2; NEH increased from 1.902 (0.179) to 2.114 (0.251) and 2.087 (0.291). Psychological safety also showed a condition × time interaction, F(1, 58) = 11.07, p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.160. PEH increased by 0.462 points, whereas the NEH increase of 0.129 points was not statistically significant. An exploratory within-subject mediation analysis in PEH yielded a model-implied indirect effect of ab = 0.160, 95% bootstrap CI [0.100, 0.221].
Conclusion: The PEH class showed larger observed gains within the common TGfU curriculum, and increases in psychological safety covaried with decision-making improvements. These concurrent changes suggest a possible explanatory role for psychological safety but do not establish temporal or causal mediation. With one instructional class per condition, classroom-specific influences could not be separated from the condition effect, and inferential statistics were not adjusted for within-class dependence. Future studies should include multiple classes per condition, account for within-class dependence, and assess psychological safety before subsequent decision-making outcomes to examine the proposed explanatory process.
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BibTeX
@article{fan2026positive,
title = {{Positive error-handling in TGfU-based basketball instruction: effects on tactical decision-making and the role of perceived classroom psychological safety}},
author = {Shen Fan},
journal = {Frontiers in psychology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1984425},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13719377},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Positive error-handling in TGfU-based basketball instruction: effects on tactical decision-making and the role of perceived classroom psychological safety
AU - Shen Fan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - Frontiers in psychology
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1984425
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13719377
AB - Background: Basketball learning involves rapid decisions and visible mistakes that may carry interpersonal risk. This study examined whether positive error-handling within Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) improved tactical decision-making and whether improvements were associated with changes in perceived classroom psychological safety. Methods: Sixty students (30 male and 30 female) were individually randomized within gender strata before formation of two instructional classes, with one class per condition (n = 30 each). The same teacher delivered TGfU with positive error-handling (PEH) or neutral error-handling (NEH) over eight weeks. Tactical decision-making was assessed through standardized 3-on-3 games at pretest (T0), posttest (T1), and three-week retention (T2); psychological safety was assessed at T0 and T1. Passing, dribbling/driving, and shooting decisions were coded using the focused BALPAI rubric. Results: Exploratory student-level analyses showed a condition × time interaction for decision-making, F(1.583, 91.821) = 9.89, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.146. PEH increased from M = 1.951 (SD = 0.202) at T0 to 2.304 (0.258) at T1 and 2.295 (0.279) at T2; NEH increased from 1.902 (0.179) to 2.114 (0.251) and 2.087 (0.291). Psychological safety also showed a condition × time interaction, F(1, 58) = 11.07, p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.160. PEH increased by 0.462 points, whereas the NEH increase of 0.129 points was not statistically significant. An exploratory within-subject mediation analysis in PEH yielded a model-implied indirect effect of ab = 0.160, 95% bootstrap CI [0.100, 0.221]. Conclusion: The PEH class showed larger observed gains within the common TGfU curriculum, and increases in psychological safety covaried with decision-making improvements. These concurrent changes suggest a possible explanatory role for psychological safety but do not establish temporal or causal mediation. With one instructional class per condition, classroom-specific influences could not be separated from the condition effect, and inferential statistics were not adjusted for within-class dependence. Future studies should include multiple classes per condition, account for within-class dependence, and assess psychological safety before subsequent decision-making outcomes to examine the proposed explanatory process.
SN - 1664-1078
ER -