earle f. zeigler ph.d. d.sc. lld. fnak

Dr. Zeigler, the author of Management of Sport and Physical Activity (The Case Method Approach), is convinced that The Harvard Case Method should be used much more extensively and much more knowledgeably in sport and physical activity management in the 21st century. Using this teaching technique students read, analyzed, and then discussed real life administrative problems like those they would have to face in their future careers. The emphasis was on careful analysis and digging for facts. The instructor was very important with this approach, but he/she did not dominate the discussion or seek a predetermined goal. He/she served as (1) a resource person, (2) an evaluator of progress, (3) an informed member of the group, (4) a discussion chairperson, and (5) a summarizer.

The student will find, however, that no new supply of knowledge is includedone that must be learned. Here instead is an approach to the learning of management that the prospective manager of sport and physical activity has not yet met satisfactorily to a truly significant degree. This text can be used by itself at either undergraduate or graduate levels of instruction, or it may be used as a laboratory manual in conjunction with a more traditional, knowledge-oriented text. (For example, the authors Management Theory and Practice in Physical Activity Education (Including Athletics) was published in 2010 with this in mind (also available at Trafford Publishing, Bloomington, IN.<www.trafford.com>)

Down through the years of the twentieth century, the case method of instruction attracted favorable attention steadily and increasingly in business, law, educational administration, and the social sciences. Many who have managed programs, and who have perhaps taught the management course in the professional program, have felt the need for an improved approach to the subject at hand. Try it youself; you and your students (!) wont be disappointed.