Task card instruction: The effect of different cue sequences on students’ learning in tennis

Abstract

In physical education, task cards are often used in student-centred learning models. Consequently, a better understanding of how to deliver effective instructions by means of task cards would make a contribution to the literature. In this study, 80 right-handed university students in kinesiology were randomized across three experimental conditions and a control group to learn a forehand groundstroke in tennis. Experimental settings differed in the presentation sequence of four technical cues on task cards. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different cue sequences on reading time of the task cards, ball control and stroke technique. Results show that presenting all cues at once provoked more reading time in comparison with the other settings. Considering ball control, significant learning gains were achieved when cues were presented all at once or separately. For stroke technique, results indicated significant improvement for the entire group.