Factors That Influence Learning (part 3) Flashcards
How a teacher plans to teach a particular motor skill is dependent upon
The nature of the skill
What are the 3 broad categories of motor skills
1 self-paced or external-paced
2 open or closed
3 discrete, serial, or continuous
What do motor skills exist on
A continuum from being self-paced to being externally-paced
Self paced skills
Performed with the body and the object at rest before the execution of the skill
Ex) dive or golf swing
Externally paced skills
Displayed when the body and/or object are moving before the skill is executed
Hitting baseball or punting a football
Open motor skills
Executed in a changing environment
Basketball layup
When is a motor skill considered closed
If environment in which it is performance is relatively stable and unchanging
Basketball free throw
Open skills are most often
Externally paced in nature (e.g., dribbling a soccer ball)
Closed skills are most often
Self paced in nature (e.g., archery skills)
What is important when working with closed and self-paced motor skills
For students to learn in a stable movement environment
When working with open and externally paced motor skills what is important
Students to learn in a changing movement environment
During teaching process what can teacher modify
The skill execution (e.g., stick handling in hockey while skating half speed)
Ultimately how does the skill need to be practiced
In game-like or competition-like conditions
(When open want to make game level asap)
discrete motor skill
a skill that has a definite beginning and end
ex) baseball swing, golf swing, hockey shot, throwing dart
serial skills
discrete skills strung together
ex) layup
continuous skills
have arbitrary beginning and ending points
ex) swimming, running, walking, stick handling while moving
where do discrete skills often appear
in closed skill environments where the environment is unchanging
when teaching a discrete skill
teachers are safe teaching the skill in isolation, with nothing coming before it or after it
when teaching a serial skill
teachers must be mindful of putting the progression of skills together as soon as possible and teaching how to transition from one skill to the next
continuous skill instruction
largely parallels open skill instruction
essential component is often the changing environment
textbooks describe the ideal path toward the execution of a skill but what must teachers always factor in
context in which they are teaching the skill that may mandate deviation from path
- environmental conditions and the nature of the learner
environmental conditions can refer to
the environment in which a skill is executed, and the environment in which a skill is taught
ex) hockey players do different things with puck when surrounded by opponents as opposed to open ice (executed)
hockey coaches approach instruction differently if teaching 25 at one time as opposed to 5 (taught)
when should we consider environmental conditions
when teachers map out a plan to teach a particular skill
what is the same when mapping out a skill that considers environmental conditions
skill progressions the same but way they are taught may vary depending on the conditions
what do teachers need to be well versed in when it comes to learner abilities
“critical periods” when learners are most developmentally ready to learn particular skills
learner abilities
important for teachers to remember that learners adapt to motor skill execution to their own abilities
what do teachers need to be constantly mindful of adapting
learning conditions to meet the physical and intellectual realities of students
ex) proper throwing patterns cannot be instilled if students are throwing ball that is too big or too heavy
what do serial movements, open skills, and externally paced skills all require
teacher be sensitive to conditions of the task in terms of what task requires and appropriateness of the response to those conditions based on learners abilities
what is required for an individual to increase motor skill proficiency
practice
practice must be
proper
if practice tasks the learner is working on are proper…
often direct relationship between the volume of motor skill learning that occurs and the extent of motor skill practice that occurred
if learner have received correct instruction what is primary factor holding back their motor skill development
lack of practice time
what is one of upsides of motor skill learning
once learned they last much longer than other types of learning
what is one of the downsides of motor skill learning
that it takes time and intentionality
what are the 3 general principles that teachers must consider when designing practices for motor skills
whole or part; practice variability; and massed and distributed practice
whole
teaching motor skill as whole unit
part
teach motor skill broken up into its component parts and teach the skill one individual part at a time
is whole or part practice better
better to practice motor skill as a whole
learner can more effectively develop the rhythm and timing needed for the execution
what is an advantage of the whole approach
gives learner a better understanding of the overall skill
When safety is an issue or a skill is particularly complex
better to teach learners individual parts of a skill that ultimately lead to the whole skill
Unless safety an issue the learners should
be given opportunity to experience the whole skill before practicing the individual parts
whole-part-whole approach
instructor gives learner the experience of whole skill, then breaks the skill into parts and works on them individually, followed by re-integrating parts back into whole skill
practice variability
idea of changing either the environmental conditions of practice or the skills involved in practice
when considering degree of variability what is key consideration
nature of the skill being taught
general rule for practice variability of open skills
should be practiced in environment with variable (changing) conditions
general rule for practice variability with closed skills
should be practiced in an environment with more stable (unchanging) conditions
what does practice variability play key role in
development of open skills
what does using closed skill practice conditions to work on open skills potentially compromise
the learners ability to adapt their motor skill performance
when in cognitive stage of learning and it is open skill
can reduce the demands placed on skill
ex) beginning hockey players can work on skating backwards at half speed
how long should you reduce demands of open skill when in cognitive stage
not indefinitely
at some point must give opportunity to apply open skills to game-like conditions
what do supporters of contextual interference argue
if you interfere with rote characteristics (e.g., mix up short and deep badminton serve practice), you will encourage the learner to process the info more and therefore learn more
based on contextual interference what does rote repetition of same skill do
decreases cognitive processing and therefore the amount of learning
what do others argue about beginner learners and repetition
repetition of motor skills increases the probability of laying down the proper neural pathways
massed practice
devoting a considerable amount of time, at one time point, to practice a motor skill
e.g., practicing a vball serve for 8 hours in one day
distributed practice
devoting a smaller amount of time, over many time points, to practice a motor skill
e.g., practicing a vball serve 20 mins a day for 24 days
why is distributed practice better
repetition is basic tent of learning, and repetition over time ensure the development of skills
building neurons over time
