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.