Motor Learning is Meaningful for Physical Educators

Abstract

Teaching physical education involves many decisions concerning the planning, carrying out, and evaluation of instruction of motor skills. The argument is forwarded here that research in motor learning provides information that the physical educator can use to develop an effective basis for making these decisions. This decision-making base develops from knowledge concerning factors that influence motor skill learning. To illustrate that this knowledge can be obtained from motor learning research, examples of research studies concerned with three different issues relevant to teaching motor skills are discussed. The first example concerns the influence of externally presented feedback on skill learning. The second addresses the issue of the length and spacing of practice sessions. The third concerns organizing practice sessions when skill variations are being learned. Results from these examples establish that evidence from motor learning research can be used to develop effective guidelines to aid teacher de...