Novel research approaches to gauge teacher familiarity with game-based teaching in physical education: an exploratory #Twitter analysis

This paper examines the use of the microblogging platform Twitter as a tool for research in physical education. The research examined teacher use of game-based approaches (GBAs). A rolling Twitter conversation hosted over the course of 12 hours provided the data for the study. Participants were from 18 countries and they contributed on average 11.80 Tweets per person, and the Twitter conversation had a reach of 110,000 people. Two types of data analysis occurred. The first involved quantitative analysis using Twitter metrics. The second involved qualitative analysis using Leximancer software. The analysis showed ‘teacher’ and ‘questions’ as prominent themes. Although GBAs are proposed as student-centred the teacher remains the pedagogical gate-keeper as the choice to use a GBA was largely based on the feeling of the teacher about the use of the approach. The present study showcases a unique contribution to the literature by sharing a process of mixed method research using a contemporary communication platform.