The Effect of an Educational Curriculum Based on the Interleaved Waves Strategy on Learning the High Dribbling and Chest Passing Skills in Basketball among Students

Abstract

Since the dawn of history, all nations have been concerned with educating their people in various sciences. As a result, those responsible for this field have called for the development of modern strategies for learning skills, particularly those that require motor coordination between different parts of the body during the execution of movement. One such strategy is the “Overlapping Waves” strategy, which is based on the cognitive approach to learning and thinking. The developer of this strategy is the scholar Siegler, who argues that learners use a series of cognitive processes that interact and integrate into a single sequence in order to solve a specific problem. This strategy assumes that learners who are thinking cannot confine their thinking to a single “wave,” as the cognitive wave is in a constant state of change.                                                                                                                                 

The research problem lies in the presence of weaknesses in the skills of high dribbling with a change of direction and chest passing in basketball, as it is a sport that is rarely practiced in physical education classes, especially in schools. These skills (high dribbling with a change of direction and chest passing) require motor coordination between the upper and lower limbs, as well as between the body and the eyes, in addition to the correct and appropriate timing for performing these skills, as they determine the outcome of the match for the teams.

Research Hypothesis

(1)The educational program based on the Overlapping Waves Strategy positively affects the learning of high dribbling with change of direction and chest passing in basketball among second-grade intermediate students.

Research Objectives

 (1) To design an educational program based on the Overlapping Waves Strategy to teach high dribbling with change of direction and chest passing to second-grade intermediate students.

(2) To identify the differences between pre- and post-tests in learning these two skills for the control and experimental groups..

Research Scope

  (1) Human Scope: Second-grade intermediate students at Al-Mutanabbi Intermediate School for Boys for the academic year 2024–2025.

Time Scope: From 1 November 2024 to 1 April 2025. (2)

• Place Scope: The outdoor playground at Al-Mutanabbi Intermediate School for Boys. (3)

Research Population and Sample

The research population comprised second-grade intermediate students at Al-Mutanabbi Intermediate School for Boys in Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf for the academic year 2024–2025, totaling 70 students. The main experimental sample of 30 students was randomly selected and divided by lottery into two groups—experimental and control—each containing 15 students and representing 42.85% of the total population.

Statistical Methods

The researchers employed the following statistical tools appropriate for the study sample

• Arithmetic Mean


• Standard Deviation


• § Skewness Coefficient


• t-Test to identify differences between pre-tests and post-tests

Conclusions

  (1) The educational program based on the Overlapping Waves Strategy contributed positively to learning the skills of high dribbling with change of direction and chest pass among second-grade intermediate students.

 (2) The strategy enabled students in practical lessons to engage in more active thinking, thereby enhancing their speed of cognitive processing while learning the two skills.

Recommendations

  (1) Employ the Overlapping Waves Strategy in teaching fundamental basketball skills to different student samples.

 (2) Apply this strategy to other skills in physical education across various educational stages 

(3) Organize training courses to qualify teaching staff in schools throughout all directorates of education in Iraq.