PDFE #13

For this PDFE assignment, I observed a cross country practice for the Berry cross country team. At the practice I observed, the team was working on speed work at the track. For this, each team member first did a warm-up, stretched, ran 5 miles, did a cool-down, and then stretched again. The 5 miles were split up into 1 mile time trials where each team member was given a time to do their miles in. I found examples of both intrinsic and extrinsic feedback throughout the practice. The examples that I used came from the workout itself.

The following are the categories of feedback observed and a couple of examples in each category:
~Intrinsic - 1) runners look at their watches to let themselves know if they are going to be on time for each lap; 2) if runners were assigned the same mile times, they worked in groups…if a runner began to fall behind the group, they knew by observing the other runners in their group that they are slowing down too much.
~Extrinsic - 1) The coach told a couple runners after their first timed mile that they ran too fast and that they need to slow down in order to save energy for the following miles and be able to run the last couple of miles on time; 2) Runners on the side that could not participate in the activity would often say to the groups of runners with the same mile times “Way to work together”.
~KR - 1) The person recording the mile times would call out times after every mile; 2)There was another couple of people of the side of the track that would call out times every time a runner passed.
~KP - 1) The coach said “That lap was right on time”; 2) A runner not participating said “Stay with your group so you don’t fall behind” during the second lap of the second to last mile.
~Descriptive - 1) The coach said “You are going too fast the first couple of laps…its going to tire you out and you won’t finish the mile on time”; 2) The coach said “You are shortening your stride.”
~Prescriptive - 1) The coach instructed a runner to lengthen their stride; 2) A runner not participating told one of the girls in the activity to tighten their form back up.

The following are some functions of extrinsic feedback. For each function, there is an example from my observations of the Berry cross country team’s practice and a comment on how that example of feedback served the function:
~Motivation - Example: Runners on the side that could not participate in the activity would often say to the groups of runners with the same mile times “Way to work together.” Comments: When the runners heard someone commenting on something good they were doing, they may feel a little better about their performance and be more confident in themselves to keep working hard and staying within their assigned mile time.
~Reinforcement - Example: The coach said “That lap was right on time.” Comments: By a runner hearing the coach basically saying they did perfect that lap, they can try to do the same the next lap. In running, you can tell when you have found a good pace in an activity like this. The coach reinforced the correct pace for the runner so they can try to get the feel for the right pace and reproduce their good performance in the following laps.
~Information - Example: The coach said “You are going too fast the first couple of laps…its going to tire you out and you won’t finish the mile on time.” Comments: Hearing information like this from the coach helps the runners adjust their pace accordingly. The runner may have felt really good the first couple of laps and gone too fast, then felt tired the last couple of laps and gone too slow. They may have finished on time, but their pace is fluctuating too much. The coach observing the runner can pass on this information that the runner may or may not already know to let them know how important it is to keep a constant pace throughout the run…it won’t tire you out near as much.
~Dependence - Example: On every lap, a runner not participating in the activity would tell someone that was running “Good job”, “Keep it up”, or some other kind of motivational feedback. Comments: Although this may seem like a good idea to the observer, the runner may come to depend on that external motivation to finish their miles on time. The runners will not always be around people telling them good job in a race, so they should not constantly hear someone say it during an activity like this. If they do hear that motivation from someone else constantly, they may lose their internal motivation and personal drive to finish each lap on time or do well in a race.

PDFE #14

This PDFE assignment was done as an in class lab with a partner. During the lab, the students became more familiar with the effects different kinds of practice can have on the success of mastering a task. The different types of practice include part and whole practice. There are three types of part practice that include segmentation, fractionization, and simplification. All can be used to help make a skill easier for someone to learn, but the type of part practice focused on in this lab was segmentation. In segmentation part practice, one aspect of a skill is isolated and practiced. Then, the second aspect is added and the two are practiced. More aspects of a skill are added until the skill is in its whole again. Whole practice simply means the entire skill is practiced rather than splitting it up into different parts. During the lab, one student used segmentation part practice to learn how to juggle. The skill was split into 3 parts added onto one another, then the fourth part was to practice the entire skill of juggling. The other student completed all the trials only using whole practice. I was the student who only practiced juggling in whole, but I have practiced the skill before. My partner had not practiced juggling before. Our results were the opposite of what they should have been. For us, whole practice had more success because more juggles were made before the balls were dropped in my retention test. In reality, if a skill has not been practiced by someone, part practice should work more efficiently. The outside factor that mainly influenced the results of this lab was outside exposure to juggling. Also, the level of coordination of someone could also have an effect. Someone with poor hand-eye coordination wouldn’t be as good at mastering juggling as someone with great hand-eye coordination.

PDFE #11

For this PDFE assignment, I observed my cousin’s softball practice for the league she plays in outside of school. I observed their practice on Thursday evening, November 18th. To collect the data I needed for determining what percent of time is spent receiving instruction, participating in an activity, waiting, and involved with management, I focused on my cousin who pitches for the team. At the start of practice, the coach talked shortly to the team before they spent a few minutes running a lap around the field and individually stretching. After the coach got the team all back together, he explained the activity they were about to do. I have never played softball, so I do not know what the drills the team did were called, but my cousin off to the side for a while practicing her pitch with the assistant coach and another player that I think was the back-up pitcher while the majority of the other team members were on the field with the coach practicing their reactions to different positions the ball could go to on the field after it is hit. The team was brought back together and talked to for another minute by the coach. The team then split up into two different groups…some stayed on the field and the others went to bat. My cousin was pitching for a while then sat for a couple minutes while the back-up pitcher was able to practice. After sitting there for a minute or two, it looked like the assistant coach came over to instruct my cousin on her pitching technique. This took up 42 minutes of practice and filled up the data sheet I was given in class, so I stopped there, but the practice still had another hour and 15 minutes left of it. During the 42 minutes of practice I observed for data collection, my cousin spent 20% of her time receiving instruction, 61% of her time participating in an activity, 11% of her time involved with management, and 8% of her time waiting. I feel like the percentages were fairly appropriate for the setting. I think that more time should have been spent doing activities like running warm-ups and stretching in the beginning of practice. Not much time was spent waiting during my observation, but it the data sheet would have been for a longer time, I think the percent of time waiting would have increased because my cousin practiced pitching first. The back-up pitcher got more time to practice and my cousin spent more time waiting after the 42 minutes of data collection. Other than spending more time on a warm-up which would increase the percent of time spent during activity, I would not make any changes to the practice. I think that 61% is a good amount of time spent participating in activity for softball because other time is needed for setting up equipment and instruction. The good thing about the practice is that the girls weren’t standing around waiting very much. I would consider the softball coach as being an effective leader because he managed the time during practice very well.

PDFE #12

This PDFE was a lab done in pairs that was meant to help the students become more familiar with the different types of extrinsic feedback. The different types of extrinsic feedback include knowledge of results (KR) and knowledge of performance (KP). KR is extrinsic information that tells the learners something about the success of their actions with respect to the intended environmental goal. An example would be when a judge giving a score to a diver, dancer, gymnast, etc. KP is extrinsic information that helps performers interpret the quality of their actual movements. An example would be when a coach tells a gymnast that their tuck was not tight enough or when a therapist tells their patient that their step was too short. In the lab done in class, one student received constant feedback while performing a task while the other only received feedback upon request. In all the trials, the goal was for a blindfolded student to successfully move their pen or pencil from one line to another. The student who only received feedback upon request performed better in every trial. Feedback was requested 13 times in 30 trials. After the trials, a retention test was given. In the retention test, absolutely no feedback for either student was given which would serve the purpose of seeing which type of feedback would produce better results. The student who only received requested feedback during the trials did better on the retention test. These results matched what we are told in the course textbook and in the online power points…that feedback given only upon request gives better results during performances and practice. Although the results seem to be due solely to the types of feedback given, there may have been other factors influencing the results. The student who received constant feedback went first in my lab group, so the student who only received requested feedback was able to see what worked and what didn’t for that lab student. Also, the second student (who only received requested feedback) had a better strategy for performing well on the trials and test. She held the hand that she wasn’t using on the paper between the two lines and was able to better judge the distance between the two lines by sensing when her hand ended. Distractibility could have been a factor as well as the students knowledge of distance measurements. The feedback given was a measurement of how far away the student was from the target line. A student with more knowledge on how long a mm exactly is would be able to adjust their movements more accurately.

PDFE #10

This PDFE assignment focused on a lab performed during class time that helped the class members better understand the results of constant and varied practice. The differences in constant and varied practice schedules gives reason to the differences in results that constant and varied practice schedules yield. In constant practice, one variation of a task is focused on. This task is repeated over and over again giving a person a lot of practice on that one task. Varied practice allows someone to practice different variations of a certain task. Although both are focused only on one task, varied practice gives practice in more various situations a person may encounter during a game or performance. Varied practice usually results in a better performance and better skill retention. Constant practice may give great results at practice, but these results often do not carry over into performance situations because it is not likely for that one variation of a task that was practiced to be the only one that will be addressed. In this lab, we were paired with another class member. One member focused on constant practice by throwing a bean bag at a target from the same distance each trial. The second member of the lab pair focused on varied practice by throwing a bean bag at a target from 3 different distances throughout the trials. Each class member, whether they focused on constant or varied practice, threw the bean bag 15 times in each trial. 3 trials were performed meaning that the bean bag was thrown a total of 45 times during practice. A 1 minute break between each trial was taken. After the 3 trials, a 5 minute break was taken. After the break, a test was performed to see which kind of practice yielded the best results. The test consisted of each class member throwing the bean bag to the target from the same distance of 5 meters. Both my lab partner’s and my results for the retention test was very similar. I only got one more point that my partner, and I was the participant focused on constant practice. The results did not match my expectations seeing as varied practice tends to yield the best results. I think that the main reason for these results is the fact that the test consisted of a constant throwing distance. In general, test situations for a certain skill will not be this constant.. This gives reason why varied practice is considered to be the best. If the retention test consisted of throwing from varied distances, I am confident that the results for the test would have backed up the information presented in the lab/chapter readings. Other factors besides the kind of practice performed that could affect performance include the following: distraction during practice or testing, being in a close proximity to other class members, having an injury to an area of the body important for practice and testing (shoulder, arm, hand, etc.), fatigue due to previous exercise before the lab was performed, getting tired of performing the repetitive movements for 45 throws, etc.

PDFE #9

My personal physical activity and physical education background:
- I don’t remember my experiences in physical education throughout school very well. I attended school in Paulding County from elementary to high school. In elementary school, I know we had PE at least once a week, but I do not remember how many times exactly that we met. Although I do not remember specific things about my elementary PE experiences, I do remember it being one of my favorite classes. I am sure that a lot of skills were developed through participation in PE in elementary school because physical and cognitive development is vast during early childhood. My favorite activities in my elementary PE classes was gymnastics, rock climbing, and playing with the big parachute. In middle school, I remember taking PE for only one year. I enjoyed this PE class because we played more structured games. I was a very competitive person in sports, so I enjoyed participating. In high school, I only took one semester of PE and one semester of health. High school PE was fun because I took it with a couple friends, but the activities were not near as fun as elementary or middle school. In high school, we learned more about various sports. I was really only interested in soccer, basketball, and cross country, so learning about the other sports was not very fun for me. Looking back on my high school PE experience, I appreciate it a little more because it made me more well rounded in my knowledge of various sports. Apart from PE, I was a very active. I did not play sports formally until 7th grade, but I was constantly playing outside with my big sister. From 7th grade until I graduated, I participated in soccer, basketball, cross country, and track, so I stayed pretty active throughout the whole year.

My assessment of current Georgia recommendations for Physical Education:
- I do not consider the current recommendations in Georgia for PE are adequate. In early childhood, there seems to be so much progress in motor development. If classes met more than just once or twice a week, this motor development may could be progressed even faster, and children may could develop stronger abilities or more skills. In middle school, there are no requirements for PE which doesn’t seem right. Physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development are continuous throughout life. In school-aged children, these aspects of development seem to progress much faster than in adulthood. Because of this, 3 years of no physical education will not help children in middle school progress their physical development. I also think the Georgia requirements in high school for PE is also inadequate. I believe that being physically active is very important. With a growing number of obese children and teens constantly on the rise, it seems like requiring more than one semester of PE would make sense. Because so little time is spent in PE classes throughout school, it is important for the classes to be of good quality. I would consider a good quality PE class to be one that has a class size similar to academic classes, that includes activities that require movement from all the students for the majority of the class, that gives students plenty of practice time on the skill being taught, that has a positive environment, that is fun for all the students, that addresses all 3 learning domains (psychomotor, affective, and cognitive), that is taught by someone with a PE background, that has adequate equipment and facilities, and that results in a high level of success.


My evaluation of the importance of physical activity and physical education for children:
- PA/PE is particularly important for children because it is during this stage of development that attitudes are developed and can be influenced the most. PE requirements are more extensive (but still not adequate in my opinion) in elementary school than in middle or high school. This means that the most exposure to PE/PA in school will occur in childhood. Skill foundations are best formed during childhood. PA/PE is important for this because if skill foundations are not developed, participation in skilled activities later in life will likely decline. Children in elementary school are less self-conscious than those in middle or high school. This means that children are more likely to participate and try new things. Early exposure to physical activity during PE classes can influence later lifestyle choices. There are two different approaches to teaching PE classes: traditional approach and skill themed approach. The traditional approach focuses more on sports and games. It usually results in a low percentage of student activity and participation. A lot of time is spent on rules, instruction, and organization. More skilled students will most likely get more practice, and the less skilled students may be embarrassed when all eyes are on them. In a skill themed approach to teaching PE, there is an emphasis on skilled games and activities that allow a higher percentage of students to be active at a time. Skills are able to be practiced and improved more, and the opportunity for skill improvement is equal for all children. The less skilled students are not singled out, so they are more likely to enjoy participating in the activities.

PDFE #8

I worked with Katie for this in class lab experience. While learning how to tie a bowline knot, her performance followed the stages of learning very well. During trials 1-10, Katie moved from the verbal-cognitive stage to the motor stage. After the first 10 trials, she seemed to be at the autonomous stage of learning because she no longer had to pay her full attention to what she was doing and could talk or look away for a bit while tying the knot without slowing the knot-tying process. Katie stated that she is very much a visual learner, and that she does better with short, clear, and concise instructions. She was confused when reading the very descriptive directions for each step. During the first couple of tries, she could not complete the knot. She was displaying aspects of the verbal-cognitive stage of learning by using self-talk, spending a lot of time reading the directions, and spending time looking at the pictures of each stage. She said that the pictures were confusing too because she could not tell which part of the string was above another. She got frustrated with trying to understand the directions and pictures, so a visual demonstration on how to tie the knot was given to her. After the visual demonstration from the professor, Katie had no problem tying the knot. The first couple of knots that she tried on her own were of fair quality, but after some practice, she began consistently tying good quality knots fairly fast. The second half of the first 10 trials, she was displaying aspects of the motor learning stage by being more consistent with her success and movements. During the following trails after 10, it seemed like Katie was in the autonomous stage and had no problem tying the knot. After some amount of practice tying the knot using the same 5 steps, Katie tied the knot upside down with no problem on her first try. Tying the knot upside down took a little longer because she had to think about the steps again, but she was able to tie a good quality knot fairly quick without error because of she mastered tying the knot right side up.