Teaching Motor Skills Research Articles

Multimodal Drumming Education Tool in Mixed Reality

First-person VR- and MR-based Action Observation research has thus far yielded both positive and negative findings in studies observing such tools’ potential to teach motor skills. Teaching drumming, particularly polyrhythms, is a challenging motor skill to learn and has remained largely unexplored in the field of Action Observation. In this contribution, a multimodal tool designed to teach rudimental and polyrhythmic drumming was developed and tested in a 20-subject study. The tool presented subjects with a first-person MR perspective via a head-mounted display to provide users with visual exposure to both virtual content and their physical surroundings simultaneously. When compared against a control group practicing via video demonstrations, results showed increased rhythmic accuracy across four exercises. Specifically, a difference of 239 ms (z-ratio = 3.520, p < 0.001) was found between the timing errors of subjects who practiced with our multimodal mixed reality development compared to subjects who practiced with video, demonstrating the potential of such affordances. This research contributes to ongoing work in the fields of Action Observation and Mixed Reality, providing evidence that Action Observation techniques can be an effective practice method for drumming.

The effects of analogy teaching on sport skill acquisition in children

Introduction: Teaching motor skills to novices has been the main task of physical educators, and studies in motor learning have always sought to discover better ways to optimize the skill acquisition process. Movement information is presented transparently through the performer’s demonstration, illustration, feedback, and verbal guidance in motor skills instructing. This study seeks to determine the type of learning, i.e., analogy learning or explicit learning, suitable for promoting the children’s acquisition of skills that are biomechanically and kinematically different from the same skill learned by explicit instructions, and to determine how the physical form of the skill evolves over practice. Material and Methods: Forty-five right-handed healthy beginner male students (mean age 9.93 ±0.55 years; height 1.39 ±4.16 m; body mass 31.65±3.23 kg; novice in basketball) participated in the study. Subjects were randomly allocated to an explicit learning condition (n = 15), an analogy learning condition (n = 15), or an uninstructed control condition (n = 15). Ten free throws (FT) in the standing position were performed with the right hand by each student using modified equipment i.e., a small ball, customized rim with 45-cm circumference and adapted net height of 2 m. Attempts were recorded from 3 m away in a biomechanical laboratory with two-dimensional (2D) video data collection (i.e., using 240 Hz camera resolution). Results: The independent ANOVA yielded a statistically significant effect across the three groups in post-tests: F (8,16) = 283.233, P = 0.001, η2 = 0.793. A statistically significant difference was observed across the three groups: F (8, 16) = 332.057, P = 0.001, η2 = 0.818. Discussion: The analogy group's performance was significantly better in the skill taught. The explicit learners achieved lower scores compared to the analogy learners. Conclusions: The analogy learning training method is recommended for children aged 10–12 willing to learn FT in basketball. The conclusions may be important for coaches concerning the use of different training methods in skill learning.

Analysis of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Utilization for Improving Motor Skills Learning Outcomes among Elementary School Teacher Education (PGSD) Students

This study explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve motor skills learning outcomes for elementary school teacher education (PGSD) students. The research investigates how AI can provide timely feedback and personalized instruction in teaching motor skills. Data analysis methods include surveys, observations, and evaluations of learning outcomes. The research findings reveal the following: 1) Female students' motor skills are classified as moderate, with an average score of 200. The classification criteria for female students' motor skills are excellent (5.67%), good (24.33%), moderate (30.33%), poor (32.67%), and very poor (3%). 2) Male students' motor skills are also categorized as moderate, with an average score of 200. The percentage breakdown for male students' motor skills is as follows: excellent (7.32%), good (25.61%), moderate (37.80%), poor (29.39%), and very poor (4.88%). The results indicate that integrating AI into motor skills learning significantly enhances the academic performance of PGSD students. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating AI technology in teacher education, particularly to enhance the motor skills development of PGSD students. The research supports the concept that AI can effectively support motor skills learning at this educational level.

Methods of teaching motor skills and professional orientation skills of information major students in the process of physical education

The article examines the motor skills and characteristics of the psyche of future information technology specialists, which made it possible to determine those indicators that directly affect the educational achievements of students of higher education and to develop model characteristics of the formation of motor skills and professional orientation skills of students of information specialties. At the same time, the relationship between the indicators of special motor training and the level of professional training of future information technology specialists has been determined, and the structure of psychophysical training for the successful mastery of professional abilities and skills of the future specialty in the field of information technology has been determined. The differentiation of physical education of students of higher education according to gender, motivational aspirations and future specialty is substantiated, and on this basis, a methodology for the formation of motor skills and professional orientation skills of future information technology specialists is developed.

Errorless Training Benefits Motor Learning and Kinematic Outcomes in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have some form of motor deficits. Additionally, based on executive dysfunction, working memory is often atypical in these children. Errorless learning reduces demands on working memory. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of errorless training on these children's ability to learn golf putting. Participants (N = 20), aged 9-13years (M = 10.15, SD = 1.4), were randomly assigned to either: (a) an errorless (ER) training group (n = 10) or (b) an explicit instruction (EI) group (n = 10). The ER group practiced putting from different distances without any instruction, while the EI group practiced putting at a particular distance with instruction. We measured motor performance (e.g., putting accuracy) and kinematic variables (e.g., putter face angle). One-way analyses of variance showed that motor performance significantly improved in both groups, but that the ER group showed significantly better accuracy retention (p < .028) and transfer learning (p < .047) than the instructional group. Kinematic variables were also significantly different between the two groups on the transfer test. These findings supported the benefits of errorless training compared to explicit instruction to teach motor skills to children with ASD.

Ongoing tracking of engagement in motor learning

Teaching motor skills such as playing music, handwriting, and driving, can greatly benefit from recently developed technologies such as wearable gloves for haptic feedback or robotic sensorimotor exoskeletons for the mediation of effective human-human and robot-human physical interactions. At the heart of such teacher-learner interactions still stands the critical role of the ongoing feedback a teacher can get about the student’s engagement state during the learning and practice sessions. Particularly for motor learning, such feedback is an essential functionality in a system that is developed to guide a teacher on how to control the intensity of the physical interaction, and to best adapt it to the gradually evolving performance of the learner. In this paper, our focus is on the development of a near real-time machine-learning model that can acquire its input from a set of readily available, noninvasive, privacy-preserving, body-worn sensors, for the benefit of tracking the engagement of the learner in the motor task. We used the specific case of violin playing as a target domain in which data were empirically acquired, the latent construct of engagement in motor learning was carefully developed for data labeling, and a machine-learning model was rigorously trained and validated.

How do paediatric physical therapists teach motor skills to children with Developmental Coordination Disorder? An interview study.

When teaching motor skills, paediatric physical therapists (PPTs) use various motor learning strategies (MLSs), adapting these to suit the individual child and the task being practised. Knowledge about the clinical decision-making process of PPTs in choosing and adapting MLSs when treating children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is currently lacking. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to explore PPTs' use of MLSs when teaching motor skills to children with DCD. Semi-structured individual and group interviews were conducted with PPTs with a wide range of experience in treating children with DCD. A conventional content analysis approach was used where all transcripts were open-coded by two reviewers independently. Categories and themes were discussed within the research group. Data were collected until saturation was reached. Twenty-six PPTs (median age: 49 years; range: 26-66) participated in 12 individual interviews and two focus-group interviews. Six themes were identified: (1) PPTs treated children in a tailor-made way; (2) PPTs' teaching style was either more indirect or direct; (3) PPTs used various strategies to improve children's motivation; (4) PPTs had reached the optimal level of practice when children were challenged; (5) PPTs gave special attention to automatization and transfer during treatment; and (6) PPTs considered task complexity when choosing MLSs, which appeared determined by task constraints, environmental demands, child and therapist characteristics. PPTs' clinical decision-making processes in choosing MLSs appeared strongly influenced by therapist characteristics like knowledge and experience, resulting in large variation in the use of MLSs and teaching styles to enhance motivation, automatization, and transfer. This study indicates the importance of the level of education on using MLSs to teach children motor skills, and clinical decision-making. Future research should focus on implementing this knowledge into daily practice.

Saxophone Players’ Self-Perceptions About Body Movement in Music Performing and Learning

Quantitative studies demonstrate that performers’ gestures reflect technical, communicative, and expressive aspects of musical works in solo and group performances. However, musicians’ perspectives and experiences toward body movement are little understood. To address this gap, we interviewed 20 professional and pre-professional saxophone players with the aims of: (1) identifying factors influencing body movement; (2) understanding how body movement is approached in instrumental pedagogy contexts; and (3) collecting ideas about the impact of movements on performance quality. The qualitative thematic analysis revealed that musical features (i.e., musical character, dynamics) constitute a preponderant influencing factor in musicians’ body behavior, followed by previous experiences and physical and psychological characteristics. In the pedagogical dimension, participants presented an increased awareness of the importance of body movement compared to their former tutors, describing in-class implementation exercises and promoting reflection with their students. Still, a lack of saxophone-specific scientific knowledge was highlighted. Regarding performance quality, participants discussed the role of movement in facilitating performers’ execution (i.e., sound emission, rhythmical perception) and enhancing the audience’s experience. We provide insights into how professionals conceive, practice, and teach motor and expressive skills, which can inspire movement science and instrumental embodied pedagogy research.

Developing Hot Executive Functioning Skills and Autonomous Motivation in Soccer Through a Nonlinear Pedagogical Approach in Secondary Physical Education

The traditional linear skill and drill approach prominent in secondary physical education programs may be leaving some students behind. Critics have argued that this approach fails to meet students’ basic psychological needs, while separating the requisite skills from the game itself. Nonlinear pedagogy is an alternative model to teaching motor skills where the student is placed at the center of the learning environment. By promoting the design principles of nonlinear pedagogy in soccer, teachers can foster learning that leads to a shift toward hot executive functioning skills (i.e., self-management skills in emotional situations) and autonomous motivation.

Teaching Motor Skills Without a Motor: A Semi-Passive Robot to Facilitate Learning.

Semi-passive rehabilitation robots resist and steer a patient's motion using only controllable passive force elements (e.g., controllable brakes). Contrarily, passive robots use uncontrollable passive force elements (e.g., springs), while active robots use controllable active force elements (e.g., motors). Semi-passive robots can address cost and safety limitations of active robots, but it is unclear if they have utility in rehabilitation. Here, we assessed if a semi-passive robot could provide haptic guidance to facilitate motor learning. We first performed a theoretical analysis of the robot's ability to provide haptic guidance, and then used a prototype to perform a motor learning experiment that tested if the guidance helped participants learn to trace a shape. Unlike prior studies, we minimized the confounding effects of visual feedback during motor learning. Our theoretical analysis showed that our robot produced guidance forces that were, on average, 54 ° from the current velocity (active devices achieve 90 °). Our motor learning experiment showed, for the first time, that participants who received haptic guidance during training learned to trace the shape more accurately (97.57% error to 52.69%) than those who did not receive guidance (81.83% to 78.18%). These results support the utility of semi-passive robots in rehabilitation.

Physical activity of children with visual impairments: intentions and behaviors of parents post intervention

Purpose Physical activity (PA) can provide multiple benefits for children with visual impairments (VI). To date, little research has explored the retention effects of PA interventions for children with VI. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the PA experiences of parents of children with VI three months after completing a PA intervention. Method This descriptive-qualitative study was situated in the Theory of Planned Behavior. Five parents completed semi-structured interviews that were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic line-by-line analysis. Results Four themes characterizing how parents created PA opportunities for their children with VI were constructed: (a) Teaching from Awareness (b) Advocating for Needs, (c) Engaging Family through Community, and (d) Seeking More PA Opportunities. Conclusion Parent’s awareness of their child’s abilities, parents’ advocacy, and parents’ teaching skills all helped to expose their children to new types of PA in the community. Parents reflected about a lack of consistently offered community-based PA for their children. Researchers must consider the importance of educating parents on how to teach skills, increase awareness, and advocate for more community-based PA programs.

Insights on action observation and imitation abilities in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder and typically developing children

BackgroundChildren with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) face difficulties in motor learning. Action observation and imitation are strategies frequently used to teach motor skills. Aims(1) To study action observation and imitation abilities in children with DCD compared with typically developing peers with a new protocol. (2) To gain insights in the relation between action observation, imitation, motor performance and activities of daily living (ADL). MethodTwenty-one children with DCD (mean age 7 years 9 months, range 6–10 years) and 20 age-matched controls (mean age 7 years 8 months, range 6–10 years) were included. A newly developed protocol was used for testing action observation and imitation proficiency. Motor performance were evaluated with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2. ADL were investigated with DCD Questionnaire’07. ResultsChildren with DCD presented significantly lower action observation (p = .037) and imitation abilities (p < .001) than peers. Worse action observation and imitation abilities were related to lower motor performance and ADL skills and a younger age. Non-meaningful gestures imitation proficiency had predictive value for global motor performance (p = .009), manual dexterity (p = .02) and ADL (p = .004). ConclusionsThe new protocol for action observation and imitation abilities can be helpful for detecting motor learning difficulties and for delineating new opportunities for motor teaching approaches in children with DCD.

A Simple Curriculum for Teaching Transfixion Stitches Using a Low-Fidelity Model and Following Gagne's Instructional Design [ID: 1377582

INTRODUCTION: Surgical training is often carried out through observation and practice in the clinical setting. Gagne's model of instructional design is an organized method of teaching motor skills. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of using Gange's model to improve surgical knowledge on transfixation stitches used during hysterectomy on a low-fidelity pelvic model trainer. METHODS: A simple teaching curriculum for transfixation stitches was developed following Gange's model. A thought-provoking clinical vignette was presented and followed by clear learning objectives. Prerequisite knowledge was tested using a quiz. Stimulus material included relevant anatomy, instruments used in a hysterectomy, and steps of an abdominal hysterectomy. Learning guidance was provided in the form of diagrams and videos of various transfixation stitches. Learners practiced on low-fidelity pelvic models with supervision by faculty members. At the end, learners repeated the knowledge test and provided feedback. Comparisons were made between pretest and posttest scores using Fisher exact test and chi-square test as appropriate for nominal variables, and Mann-Whitney test for continuous variables. RESULTS: The simulation was performed by 18 participants (n=18). There was significant improvement in test scores after completing the simulation (59.6±21.8% versus 89.3±9.7%, P&lt;.0001). Additionally, the number of transfixation stitches each learner was familiar with increased significantly after the simulation (0 interquartile range [IQR] [0–1] versus 4 IQR [2–4], P&lt;.0001). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that using Gagne's model of instructional design on a low-fidelity pelvic model trainer in a low-stress environment can help improve surgical skill education. Our experience demonstrates that simulation training can be organized without much time or resource and help build lasting surgical skills.

An Exploration of Understanding Teaching Motor Skills Related to Self-Care Skills among Typical Preschool Children: Parents’ and Teachers’ Perspectives

Introduction Self-care skills are integral to how children manage their daily lives without help. Without good motor skills, the children have difficulty achieving independence in self-care. Objectives This study aimed to explore the understanding on teaching of motor skills related to self-care skills, factors inhibit teaching self-care and interest to have module as guidance to preschool children from the parent’s and teachers’ perspectives. Method This was a qualitative study approach that recruited eight participants, which included both parents and teachers. Parents and teachers involved in providing care to preschool children aged four to five years were selected for this study. The data were collected and recorded through semi-structured interviews individually. All the transcribed data were analysed by using thematic analysis. Results Findings indicated five themes that appeared as follows: ”Limited amount of knowledge”, ”Time constraints”, “Needs guidance”, ”Child’s factors”, and ”Non-standardised guidance”. Conclusion Parents show limited understanding of children’s needs and development. Parents and teachers lack awareness role of motor skills that could support self-care independence. Development motor skills module to support self-care skills as guidance is recommended, and further study could be considered to explore more on development of motor skill module to promote early self-care independent.

Is video creation more effective than self-exercise in motor skill learning?

Parallel to the tremendous growth and expansion of video technology, it is easy and enjoyable for students to create a video as a learning activity. However, most previous studies primarily focused on declarative knowledge learning (e.g., language learning, science learning) rather than motor skill learning. The current study aimed to investigate whether creating and sharing a video with classmates would be more effective than merely creating a video and self-exercise to learn a motor skill in terms of intrinsic motivation, perseverance in learning, learning satisfaction, and roller-skating skill. Partially consistent with our hypothesis, we found that creating and sharing a video with classmates increased students' intrinsic motivation, perseverance in motor tasks, and learning satisfaction, but not roller-skating skill, followed by merely creating a video and then self-exercise. The findings have an important implication for motor skills learning: during teaching motor skills, teachers can use encourage students to create and share a video with classmates as a homework activity to increase students' intrinsic motivation, perseverance in motor tasks, and learning satisfaction.

The effect of (S.N.I.P.S) strategy on teaching methods on the performance of some technical gymnastics skills for female students

The education process in general is one of the most important educational processes that need proper scientific planning in order to reach its goals. Learning depends on the effectiveness of the teaching methods used in teaching motor skills for various sports and games. It was also noted that the traditional method, which makes the student a recipient and puts all the decisions of the lesson by the teacher, which is the most used method in teaching motor skills for various sports and games, and there is a clear omission of modern teaching methods in teaching physical education that focus on the role of the learner and his effective participation in the educational process. Where the research deals with the study of the use of the strategy (S.N.I.P.S) in the two teaching methods (reciprocal, training) in the performance of some artistic gymnastics skills for female students.

Assessing the Locomotor and Object Control Skill Levels of Basic Pupils in Ghana: The Role of Physical Education

The study employed a quasi- experimental design of a single group pre-test post-test. The purpose of the study was to assess the locomotor and object control skill development levels of 6-8-year-old basic school pupils in Kwahu Afram Plains South district of Ghana The target population for the study comprised all 6-8 years old primary school pupils in Tease in Kwahu Afram Plains in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Convenient and stratified sampling techniques were used to select 57 pupils made up of thirty-seven (37) boys and twenty (20) girls. The instrument used for this study was Test of Gross Motor development (TGMD-2). Descriptive frequencies were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that pupils demonstrated high level of perfection with reference to their locomotor skills in the various physical activities with most responses on their skill execution mostly ranked between often and always. The study also indicated that pupils were able to perform locomotor skill activities well. The study also concluded that pupils were not really equipped with motor skill and were not able to execute motor skill activities correctly during physical activities with responses on motor skill mostly ranked between rarely and often. It is recommended that lower and upper primary school teachers in Kwahu Afram Plains South district should be equipped with the prerequisite skills to enable them to teach motor skills development effectively. It is also recommended that more qualified physical education personnel should be sent to the basic level in Kwahu Afram Plains South district to teach physical education since motor development and skill acquisition develop the habit of the active lifestyle of individuals.

A Point-Light Display Model for Teaching Motor Skills to Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Study.

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have limitations in their attention and working memory that affect their motor learning. The aim of current study was to compare point-light display (PLD) to video observation as instructional models for teaching motor skills to children with ASD versus typically developing (TD) children. We randomly assigned 24 children with ASD aged 6-17-years-old and 24 age paired typically developing (TD) children to four groups: (a) ASD-Video, (b) ASD-PLD, (c) TD-Video, and (d) TD-PLD. After twenty training blocks (200 trials), all participants entered into late retention and transfer testing. We recorded all participants' visual gazes when observing each PLD and Video condition. Both PLD groups had better performance in the acquisition phase, and on retention and transfer tests. Also, gaze recordings revealed that children with ASD paid more attention to relevant demonstration points in the PLD than in the video condition. We discuss possible mechanisms and implications of these findings.

Transfer of Motor Skills from Virtual Reality to Real Environment

Aim: the aim of the present study is to evaluate the transfer of motor skills from Virtual Reality (VR) to Real Environment (RE). Methodology: participants included students who were divided into two groups of VR and RE according to their pre-test scores. Findings: The results of ANOVA with repeated measurements and MANOVA depicted significant improvement is both groups at the learning phase. Moreover, the positive transfer and lateral transfer from right hand to the left hand in table tennis were happened in both groups. Conclusion: sometimes, even better than the “RE”, VR can be an efficient tool in learning and teaching motor skills as it acquires easy modifiable setting.

I Need Help! Physical Educators Transition to Distance Learning During COVID-19

During the spring of 2020, school districts across the United States were required to shift to distance learning modalities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic forced schools to close their doors to face-to-face instruction and quickly shift to an online format. While online education is prevalent in the United States, it only serves about 2% to 4% of the total K–12 population. Literature related to K–12 online physical education is sparse and there are concerns regarding accountability. This study used a grounded theory approach and collected data through open-ended questions as part of an online survey. Data clearly indicate that physical educators need assistance in the transition to distance learning, especially in developing plans for teaching motor skills and online pedagogies. Many of the teachers in this study expressed frustration with how their school leadership handled the shift to distance learning, partially due to the marginalization of the subject matter. Physical educators need the tools to expand their pedagogical technological knowledge as well as resources to advocate for themselves and their subject during adverse situations in schools. The shift to distance learning has the potential to have positive outcomes, as teachers were forced out of their comfort zones to learn new technology skills that may translate to enhanced learning in the faceto- face environment. Future studies should focus on development of distance learning pedagogies and seek to understand how to support teachers during crisis learning situations.