Exploring the teaching experience and support methods of university physical education instructors

Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore my experience teaching physical education major subjects as a first-time instructor at a teacher training institution and how universities support new instructors. Methods We collected data such as personal diaries, reflection journals, mobile phone recordings and memo records, syllabus, student activity photos, student lecture evaluations, and student LMS reflections for about 10 months from January to October 2023, and analyzed them inductively. Category analysis was performed. Results My experience as a first-time instructor was categorized as “Road to Part-time Lecturer,” “standing in the pulpit,” and “giving and receiving evaluations.” The ‘Road to Part-time Lecturer’ was categorized as ‘Preparation for permission for concurrent employment’, ‘Approval of concurrent positions completed by coordination’, and ‘Preparation for educational activities’. ‘Standing in the pulpit’ was categorized as ‘striving to improve the lesson’, ‘responding to unforeseen variables’, and ‘struggling to interact with students’. ‘Giving and receiving evaluations’ was categorized into ‘I who evaluate’ and ‘I who am evaluated’. Universities should establish a systematic system to develop the teaching capabilities of beginning lecturers starting from the doctoral program and create an atmosphere of voluntary and proactive efforts to improve the teaching and increase expertise of beginning lecturers. Conclusions Universities should establish a systematic system to develop instructors' teaching capabilities starting from the doctoral program and provide support so that new instructors can collaborate with fellow new instructors or receive systematic help from experts to enhance their individual expertise.