Assessment of Sport Skills and Motor Abilities Chapter 11 Assessment of Sport Skills and Motor Abilities Chapter 13

Guidelines for Sport Skills Testing and Motor Performance Tests Acceptable reliability and validity Simple to administer and take Easy to understand instructions Not expensive nor requires extensive equipment Reasonable time for preparation and administration Encourage correct form Involve only one participant This slide and the next presents guidelines for skills and motor performance tests. Point out that (as always) the most important concerns are reliability and validity. Speak to how each of the issues here leads to increased reliability and validity. Provide examples from your own teaching experience that illustrate how these factors have affected (positively or negatively) the testing procedures you have used. (continued) Chapter 13

Guidelines for Sport Skills Testing and Motor Performance Tests (continued) Suitable difficulty Interesting and meaningful Exclude extraneous variables Provide for accurate scoring Provide target scoring guidelines (if appropriate) Sufficient trials Yield diagnostic scores Many of these guidelines come from the AAHPERD Skills Test Manuals for the development of skills tests. You might use some of the AAHPERD Skills Test Manuals (e.g., basketball, tennis, and softball) or a sport skills test from another source that demonstrates proper and inadequate attempts to meet these guidelines. Chapter 13

Effective Testing Procedures Pretest duties time, forms, procedures, instructions Testing duties location, materials, cheating, safety, absences, make-ups Posttest duties transcription, item analysis, reporting, confidentiality Indicate that administration of a sports or motor ability test does not “just happen.” It takes considerable time, effort, and planning to conduct the test in a way that results in valid information. Provide examples from your own teaching experiences about when things have worked well and when things went totally wrong. BE PREPARED is a good motto for testing. The instructor and the students should be well prepared so that there are no surprises. Pay attention during test administration. What if a student cheats? Help and give hints to everyone (not just selected students). Posttest—return the results and interpret student results in a timely manner. Conduct an “item analysis” of the results (not in the sense that was presented in chapter 8 but in a logical or theoretical sense). Did your better performers (in your objective, expert opinion) score well and did the poorer performers actually score lower? This is a piece of logical and construct validation for the test that was administered. Chapter 13

Figure 11.3 Flowchart for Constructing Motor Performance Tests (summary) This is an abbreviated representation of figure 11.3 Review the steps for developing or obtaining a valid performance test. Indicate that this process in ongoing and continually undergoing review so that you can refine and enhance the quality of the test itself and the testing procedures. Chapter 13

Issues in Skills Testing In addition to reliability and validity (the most important issues) Feasibility Testing method Objective skills tests? Alternative (authentic assessment)—see chapter 14 While reliability and validity are the most important issues in testing, feasibility plays an important role. Then you must decide who you will test. Chapter 13

Skills Test Classification Objective Accuracy-based Repetitive performance (wall-volley) Total body movement Distance or power Provide examples of each of these types of objective tests. For example: Accuracy-based—throwing at a softball or basketball target Repetitive performance—wall-volley tests; ask students if they like these and they will say, “No.” However, wall-volley tests generally reflect some degree of (not perfect) validity. Total body movement—running with a football or dribbling a basketball Distance or power—throwing the softball for distance; kicking a soccer ball or football Chapter 13

Subjective Rating Scales Relative Rank-order Absolute Evaluation against a fixed standard Common Errors Halo effect "Standard" error Central-tendency Differentiate between absolute and relative scoring. In relative scoring, you are ranking performers from best to poorer performance. With absolute, you are determining how well a performer compares to a fixed scale or standards. Have the student reconsider the material presented in chapter 14 on alternative (authentic assessment). Chapter 13

Developing Well-Constructed Scales State objectives in terms of observable behavior Select traits that determine success Define selected traits in observable behavior Select and develop the rating instrument Define degrees of success Test and revise the rating scale Use the scale in an actual testing situation Follow these steps when developing rating scales. Note the similarity to the points presented in chapter 14 on alternative assessment. Continue to the next slide for recommendations related to developing well-constructed scales. Chapter 13

More Rating Scales Suggestions Develop well-constructed scales Train raters well Explain common rating errors to raters Permit ample time to observe performance If possible, use multiple raters Discuss these issues in developing good rating (i.e., subjective) scales. Chapter 13

Other Tests Performance-based testing Actual performance of the skill Trials-to-criterion testing Could save considerable time and effort Present these methods of assessing skills. Performance-based means to perform the actual activity (e.g., golf, tennis, bowling). Trials-to-criterion is used when a specific criterion can be identified. Students perform the assessment until this criterion is reached. Chapter 13

Ability or Skill? Ability general, innate psychomotor trait Skill specific, learned psychomotor capacity Specificity determined with concurrent validity Differentiate between ability and skill. Which are important? Which should be measured? How should they be measured? Are they related to performance? Chapter 13

Measurement Aspects of the Domain of Human Performance Muscular strength Speed Anaerobic power Flexibility Balance Kinesthetic perception These are abilities that are often measured in human performance. Point out the specificity of these measurements in each area. Chapter 13

Power Tests Arm power One-hand shot put Two-hand shot put over head Medicine-ball pitch Basketball throw Leg power Margaria-Kalamen Leg Power Test Incline run These are examples of ability tests that are often used in motor ability assessment. Chapter 13

Strand & Wilson Strand & Wilson (Human Kinetics publication) provide examples of sport skills tests including norms, reliability, validity, and testing instructions. Chapter 13

Effective Testing Consists of... Including sport relevant variables, selecting reliable and valid tests, developing sport specific protocols, controlling test administration, maintaining athletes rights to respect, repeating the tests periodically, and interpreting the results for the performance and interested parties (e.g., coaches, parents, etc.) Indicate that good testing does not “just occur.” It takes time, effort, and practice. It is an abuse of measurement to simply measure something and not report and interpret the results to the performer. Chapter 13

Purposes of Human Performance Testing and Analysis Selection Classification Diagnosis Prediction We return here to chapter 1 and the purposes of measurement in human performance. Provide examples of selection, classification, diagnosis, and prediction from your own work. Chapter 13

Classification Tests for High School Tennis Players Motor performance 50-yard dash Agility line drill Tennis skills tests Forehand Backhand Volley Moving forehand Moving backhand Serve This is an example of some classification tests that might be used with tennis players. Note that there are motor ability AND sport specific skills that are performed. Chapter 13

Table 11.10 Men’s Volleyball Performance Profile Percentiles Take the students to table 11.10 on the next slide and use the performance profile and describe how the profile can be used to individualize training programs for each performer. Talk about how PASW can be used to create the profile data. Review chapter 3 for percentile development Chapter 13

Table 11.10 Men’s Volleyball Performance Profile Use the performance profile in Table 11.10 and describe how the profile can be used to individualize training programs for each performer. Talk about how PASW can be used to create the profile data. Review chapter 3 for percentile development Chapter 13