🔬Research
NewA games-based assessment in ecological dynamics for measuring physical literacy
Flavius Andrisca
10 April 2026
27 views
enU7-U11U12-U16U17+Assessment in learning environmentsApplication
Brett Wilkie, Jonathan Foulkes, Carl T. Woods, Alice Sweeting, Colin Lewis, Keith Davids, James Rudd
York St John University, Liverpool John Moores University, Victoria University, Sheffield Hallam University, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences
Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology·2022
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajsep.2022.03.002CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Description
Proposes and pilots a games-based assessment framework grounded in ecological dynamics to evaluate physical literacy through real-time child–environment interactions during gameplay, rather than isolated skill testing.
A games-based assessment in ecological dynamics for measuring physical literacy.pdf
Applied Summary
This study proposes a way to assess physical literacy through game play, not isolated tests. Children are observed in small-sided games, and their behavior is analyzed based on how they interact with teammates, opponents, and space. The focus is on what they perceive and how they act in context, rather than how well they execute predefined techniques. Higher physical literacy is associated with better positioning, more adaptive decision-making, and greater attunement to opportunities for action in the game. The assessment captures patterns such as movement off the ball, passing choices, and defensive responses, offering a richer understanding of how children actually function in play. This shifts assessment from measuring “skills” in isolation to understanding how children navigate and solve problems in dynamic environments.
Relevance for Coaches
It challenges how you evaluate players. Instead of judging technique or isolated performance, it directs attention to how players read the game, position themselves, and interact with others. It gives a language to observe learning in real time.
Concrete Application
- Use small-sided games as your main assessment tool and observe off-ball movement, positioning, and decision-making. - Track simple behaviors: does the player move into space, adjust position, or remain static during play?
Assumptions about the Child
The child is seen as an adaptive system, learning through interaction with the environment. Learning is not internal acquisition of technique, but continuous adjustment to changing game situations.
Limits and Risks
- Small sample size and pilot design limit generalization. - Time-intensive analysis makes it hard to apply in everyday coaching. - Risk of reducing rich observation back into rigid metrics. - Context limited to school settings, not competitive environments.
Pedagogical Intent
This study targets a shift in behavior from executing isolated techniques to perceiving, deciding, and acting effectively within game situations. It supports autonomy by allowing children to explore, adapt, and regulate their actions based on the demands of the environment rather than external instruction. It positions learning as emerging through interaction, not repetition. It activates relational dynamics between player, teammates, opponents, and space, where meaning is shaped continuously in play. It invites coaches to observe and design environments, not prescribe solutions.
Working Hypothesis
If children are assessed within representative game environments that preserve real interactions with teammates, opponents, and space, then differences in their level of physical literacy will become visible through their positioning, decision-making, and adaptability in play, because physical literacy emerges from continuous perception–action coupling and attunement to affordances, which can only be expressed in context, not in isolated testing.
Failure Conditions
Unsuitable Context
high-performance elite settings with immediate results pressurelarge groups without observation capacityenvironments focused on standardized testingsessions without game-based practicecontexts lacking time for qualitative observation
Probable Misreading
assessment replaces coachingonly games no structureeverything is subjective observationphysical literacy equals movement onlyignoring technical development completely
Pedagogical Risk
superficial observation without understandingreducing complex behavior to checklistsloss of intentional coachingmisjudging players due to poor observationabandoning necessary structure in training
A structured terrain report from anyone who has applied this resource in real practice.
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Quick Info
Type
🔬Research
Status
NewVersion
v1.0
Language
en
Age Groups
U7-U11, U12-U16, U17+
Duration
45 min
Complexity
advanced
Secondary Themes
Ecological dynamicsPhysical literacyGames-based learningSkill assessment