Situation Awareness: A Pivotal Process for Sensemaking and Decision Making in the Learning and Practice of Physical Activities

In physical education (PE), reflection on action is usually referred to in relation with pedagogical approaches such as experiential learning, constructivism and social constructivism. In organization systems, sensemaking has been discussed in relation with situation awareness (SA), a construct closely related not only to decision making but to understanding as well. In recent years, researchers interested in decision making in high-level sport performance have taken an interest in SA. The purpose of this explanatory article is to examine the applicability of the SA construct, including its related DM and sensemaking processes, to the teaching/learning and performing of diverse categories of physical activities such as sports, dance, fitness activities, outdoor activities and leisure activities in general. In a first section, the author distinguishes two types of SA, current SA and reflected SA, in relation with reflection in action and reflection on action. With regard to the involvement of one or several individuals, three SA facets are suggested: primary SA, distributed SA, and socially shared SA. Following a short discussion on the relationship between SA and the data/frame theory, the author examines the process of framing physical activities in view of situation awareness. Finally, the metacognitive side of framing and situation awareness is briefly discussed in terms of individuals who come to select particular observational cues that work better for them. Keywords: situation awareness, data/frame theory, sensemaking, decision making, frame building