Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Molly Murphy
EXSC 351
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1. The learner in this lesson plan is a highly motivated 17 year old, Caucasian female who
wants to pass the push-up portion of the Physical Readiness Test for the United States Navy in
deck push-ups in a timed, two minute test. A chest-to-deck push-up is achieved when the
learners elbows make a 90 degree angle when in the down position while the back and legs
remain aligned at all times. The learner is an active, healthy and developed female that has
performed a push up before but not a chest-to-deck push-up in a timed environment. The
learner is classified as an associative stage learner because she has progressed through the
cognitive stage of understanding the basic movements and techniques of a push-up from her
prior experience (Fitts & Posner 1967). In the associative stage, she will focus on refining the
chest-to-deck push-up form while perfecting her technique to decrease variation in her push-
ups. Schmidt and Wrisberg (2008) define a discrete skill as having a clear beginning and end
while only lasting a short amount of time. Based on this definition, the chest-to-deck push-up is
classified as a discrete skill; beginning with the learner lowering her body until her elbows make
a 90 degree angle, and ending with the learner pushing herself back up to the leaning rest
position. Schmidt and Wrisbergs definition of a closed skill requires a predictable and stable
environment. This scientific definition classifies the chest-to-deck push up as a closed skill
because the environment in which a pushup is performed is unchanging. The learner will
therefore practice this skill in a closed environment to simulate the environment where she will
excessive repetition and then moving on to the next skill, and focuses on skill acquisition. In
contrast, a random schedule is defined by practicing multiple elements of a certain motor skill in
no specific order and teaches motor skill retention. The random practice schedule promotes the
phenomenon of contextual interference, which according to Magill and Hall (1990) occurs when
variations of a skill interfere with each other during practice and leads to superior retention
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compared to block learning schedules. In 2010, Porter and Magill researched this phenomenon
in detail and found that combining the two practice schedules could possibly promote better
learning and further tested their ideas in an experiment. The purpose of this experiment was to
test their hypothesis that systematically increasing contextual interference could result in
increased skill learning (Porter & Magill 2010). Ninety-six female students participated in their
experiment and were asked to perform 81 trials of chest pass, an over head pass and a one-
hand side arm pass with a basketball toward a target. The participants were assigned to three
different practice schedules and given a demonstration of each pass. The blocked schedule
consisted of 81 trials with each pass practiced in block order. The random schedule consisted of
81 trials of passes in a random order and the increasing schedule consisted of 1-27 trials of
block practice, 28-54 of serial practice and 55-81 trials in a random order. Results of this
facilitates better skill learning compared to the just blocked or random practice. This experiment
is relevant to my learner because the participants are similar in age and gender. One strength
of this experiment is that both motor skills, passing a basketball and performing a push-up, are
similar discrete skills that use the arms, chest and abdomen. However, one limitation is that
push-up. Based on the research of Porter and Magill (2000), I will implement an increasing
practice schedule that uses both blocked and random practice schedules. The learner will start
with a block practice of 15 standard push-ups, then progress into a serial practice of three push
up variants including: 5 incline push-ups, 5 decline push-ups and 5 wide grip push-ups. Each
practice will then end with 20 push-ups, consisting of each variant, in random order. According
to the research, the increasing contextual interference throughout each practice will assist the
practice is long in duration and allows for very little breaks in between each practice. Massed
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practice is integral to intensive therapy in certain rehabilitation processes (Vearrier 2004) In
contrast; according to Baston (2006) distributed practice occurs when the amount of rest
between practices sessions is equal to or greater than the amount of time spent in practice.
Disturbed practices are commonly used because of the beneficial spacing effect on motor
learning retention and skill acquisition. The purpose of an experiment conducted by Dail and
Christina (2004) was to observe the effects of a distributed practice macrostructure on learning
and retention of a motor skill. The study gathered 90 male and female novice golfers ages 17-32
years and instructed them to putt a golf ball into a hole on a flat, artificial putting surface. The
subjects were randomized into massed and distributed practice groups. The massed group
performed 240 putts in one practice while the distributed group performed 60 putts per practice,
with practice on 4 consecutive days. A retention group of 15 subjects from each group was
instructed to return 1 day later, 7 days later, and 28 days later for retention testing. After each
block of 10 putts, the participant was given verbal and visual feedback. The results of this
experiment concluded that a distributed practice macrostructure was followed with better skill
acquisition and retention compared to a massed practice of a discrete motor skill. This
experiment is relevant to my learner because the gender and age of the participants are similar
and they are also in the associative stage of learning. The golf putt executed in this experiment
was described as a discrete skill, making it relevant to the discrete motor skill of a push up that I
am teaching in my lesson plan. Based on the study of Dial and Christine (2004), I will be
implementing a distributed practice schedule consisting of a 30-minute practice once a day for
two weeks. Then after the initial two weeks, there will be a 30-minute practice every other day
for two weeks. According to the research, the distributed practice structure will assist my learner
and are administered before the motor skill occurs. Verbal instructions can cue the brain to pay
more attention to the task at hand and thus facilitate motor learning (Fok et al., 2011).
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Demonstration is another form of instruction that incorporates a visual component to verbal
instructions. Using both verbal instructions and demonstration has had beneficial effects on
motor skill acquisition and retention (Hooyman, Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2011). The purpose of a
study conducted by Hooyman, Wulf and Lewthwaite (2011) was to examine the effects of using
on the motor skill learning. Forty-eight college students, male and female, were enrolled in this
study and instructed to throw a tennis ball from a throwing area to a target that was hung 10 m
away, which simulated a cricket bowling action. The participants were randomized into 3 groups
distinguished by the type of instructions they were to receive before throwing. The first group
language instructions, and the third group; neutral-language instructions. The participants
watched a 40 second demonstration video with the respective instructions before performing 60
trials of the cricket throw. The results of this experiment revealed enhanced accuracy and self-
controlling or neutral instructions. This reveals the importance of giving learners autonomy when
instructing them how to perform a specific skill. The subjects had no prior experience in cricket
bowling when they participated in this study, differentiating them from my learner who has
previous background with push-ups. The difference in cognitive stages of my learner and the
study participants is a limitation of this study. The strength of this study was the use of a discrete
skill; both throwing a ball at a target and performing push-up are discrete skills that take place in
a closed environment. Based on the research of Hooyman, Wulf and Lewthwaite (2011), I will
plan. I will have expert at performing push-ups demonstrate the 5 push-ups with correct form
while I administer the instructions prior to the performance of the learner. Instructions will
include autonomic language such as once you begin executing the push-ups, you may pace
yourself as you please for the entirety of the two minute test and when you perform your push-
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up, you may want to keep your head and eyes pointed forward to ensure proper back
alignment.
5. Augmented feedback (AFB) is any information about a learners performance that is made
aware to them after they have completed the task by the instructor. AFB can be defined in terms
of content of the information; knowledge of results (KR) and knowledge of performance (KP).
Knowledge of results is defined as the feedback directed toward the outcome of a movement
and is important in eliminating errors in performance (Hodges & Williams, 2012). Knowledge of
performance is detailed information about how the movement was performed, including
prescriptive AFB. Descriptive AFB describes to the learner the movement and prescriptive AFB
goes one step further to describe future improvements for correction of the movement (Chen,
views the learning process as reward. Mastery goals applied to learning have been linked to
increased self-efficacy, higher achievement and better cognition (Patrick, Ryan & Pintrich,
1999). Performance goals refer to the learners want to beat out the competition and are based
on external rewards such as winning. Performance goals have been associated with negative
learning behaviors such as cheating (Anderman, Griesinger & Westerfield, 1998). Mastery goals
performance goals.
References
Anderman, E. M., Griesinger, T., & Westerfield, G. (1998). Motivation and cheating during early
Batson, G. (2007). Revisiting overuse injuries in dance in view of motor learning and somatic
models of distributed practice. Journal Of Dance Medicine & Science, 11(3), 70-75.
Chen, D. D. (2001). Trends in augmented feedback research and tips for the practitioner.
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Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 71(1), 32-36.
Dail, T. K., & Christina, R. W. (2004) Distribution of Practice and Metacognition in Learning and
Long-Term Retention of a Discrete Motor Task. Research Quarterly for Exercise and
Fitts, P., & Posner, M. (1967). Human performance. Belmont, California: Brooks/Cole.
Fok, P., Farrell, M., McMeeken, J., & Kuo, Y. (2011). The effects of verbal instructions on gait in
Hodges, N. & Williams, M., A. (2012). Skill acquisition in sport: research, theory and practice.
Hooyman, A., Wulf, G., & Lewthwaite, R. (2011). Impacts of autonomy-supportive versus
198.
Magill, R. A., & Hall, K. G. (1990). A review of the contextual interference effect in motor skill
Patrick, H., Ryan, A. M., & Pintrich, P. R. (1999). The differential impact of extrinsic and mastery
goal orientations on males and females self regulated learning. Learning and Individual
Schmidt, R. A., & Wrisberg, C. A. (2008). Motor learning and performance: A situation-based