1. University of Hertfordshire, Division of Sports Science, Sports Studies, and Sports Therapy, College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9AB. www.herts.ac.uk Establishment of Referent Structures for the Knowledge of Expert Performance Sports Coaches David Turner, Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching – d.j.2.turner@herts.ac.uk Introduction Sports coaching is essentially a cognitive enterprise, involving complex decision making, and requiring considerable knowledge in several areas (Knowles et al., 2005). The contribution of coaching to elite athletic performance, and the importance of coach education are increasingly recognised. Whilst training programmes have traditionally been assessed via declarative knowledge gains, learning is now more commonly recognised as a process of knowledge construction rather than reproduction (MacLellan, 2001). Structural knowledge assessment allows for comparison of relatedness to a reputable expert structure, and may be viewed as an indicator of appropriate development. Pathfinder networks have been widely used to represent knowledge structures. These are connected graphical representations of domain concepts, and the relationship between them. They have been employed to model and compare the knowledge of experts and novices in a variety of educational and vocational contexts (Davis et al., 2003). However, this research project represents the first known use of Pathfinder in the sports coaching domain. Furthermore, expert referent knowledge structures have never before been established in relation to sports coaching. Method Knowledge elicitation: - key concepts pertinent to the performance sports coaching domain, were derived from 4 expert sports coaches (≥ 10 years coaching, coached at national level, qualified at ≥ NVQ Level 3), 3 expert sports coaching students (2:1 Honours classification + subsequently studied at Masters level), and the course instructor (Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching). Knowledge representation: - Pathfinder was used to capture a cognitive map of knowledge structures, arising from a pairwise comparison of the relatedness of all concept pairs. Knowledge evaluation: - Separate Pathfinder networks were produced for an amalgamated expert sports coach knowledge structure, an amalgamated expert sports coaching student structure, for the course instructor, and for an amalgamation of all experts. These were then compared statistically for similarity (a measure similar to correlation) and coherence (a measure of internal consistency similar to coefficient alpha). Results Presented above is the Pathfinder network generated from the mean concept ratings of all the expert participants (Coh =.50). The above figure represents the indicative placing of the expert sub-groups on the theoretical novice-expert continuum, on the basis of similarity and coherence scores obtained (* = statistically significant/*** = very highly statistically significant). Discussion The 14 concepts could act as a curriculum content guide for the education of performance sports coaches. The derived expert cognitive maps may be employed and compared as referent structures against which to quantitatively and qualitatively assess coach education programme effectiveness. This preliminary work will subsequently be used in examining the extent to which students’ knowledge structures in relation to performance sports coaching, become more similar/close to expert performance coach referent structures, as they progress through a three year University coach education programme. Conclusion The current research hopefully represents a valuable contribution to the existing general literature on the use of expert knowledge structures as evaluative educational tools; and a unique contribution to the area of sports coaching and coach education (which currently has an enhanced national profile in light of preparation for London 2012). References Davis, M.A., Curtis, M.B., and Tschetter, J.D. (2003) Evaluating cognitive training outcomes: Validity and utility of structural knowledge assessment. Journal of Business and Psychology, 18, 2, 191-206. Knowles, Z., Borrie, A., and Telfer, H. (2005) Towards the reflective sports coach: Issues of content, education and application. Ergonomics, 48, 11-14, 1711-1720. MacLellan, E. (2001) Assessment for learning: The differing perceptions of tutors and students. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 26, 4, 307-319.