Providing Feedback During the Learning Experience Chapter 10

Objectives Discuss the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic feedback and give examples of each Explain the difference between knowledge of results and knowledge of performance and give examples of each Describe how instructional feedback can serve as a source of motivation, reinforcement, and error information (continued)

Objectives (continued) Discuss the dependency-producing properties of instructional feedback Explain the principles involved in giving instructional feedback—that is, what type, how much, how precise, and how often Apply the principles of feedback to a variety of real-world instructional settings

Preview A physical therapist is frustrated. Her job is to oversee therapy for several stroke patients. The therapist wants to provide as much assistance as possible, but because of her large patient load, she is not able to provide a lot of feedback to any particular patient. As a result, patients must spend most of the time practicing on their own. (continued)

Preview (continued) How and when can the therapist provide feedback for her patients? What kinds of information can be conveyed to them about their performance? What will happen if the therapist attempts to provide feedback about more than one aspect of a patient’s movement at one time? How often should the therapist give feedback and when in relation to performance?

Overview Role of the decisions practitioners must make in order to provide the most effective learning experiences Two major categories of feedback and two types of feedback Motivational, reinforcing, informational, and dependency-producing properties of extrinsic feedback Questions that an effective movement practitioner should consider regarding feedback

Feedback Classifying feedback: Initially it was based on only the actual movement (proprioceptive feedback), which compared the actual feedback to the desired goal to eliminate error. The contemporary definition characterizes feedback more broadly as any kind of sensory information pertaining to the movement.

When Is Feedback Available? Usually before the movement Some during movement After the movement

Classification of Feedback Intrinsic feedback is sensory information that comes from producing movements; information may come from outside of the body (exteroception) or within the body (proprioception). Extrinsic feedback (augmented feedback) is sensory information provided by sources outside of the body.

Kinds of Feedback Knowledge of results (KR) is extrinsic, verbal information that tells the learner about the success or failure of his or her actions. Knowledge of performance (KP) is related to the quality of movement a performer has produced.

Requirement of Feedback Typically, without KR there is little or no learning. One must have some sort of error-detection form, either KP or KR or both.

Motivation and Extrinsic Feedback Typically, it energizes learners to increase their efforts to achieve the goal. With boring or long tasks, feedback produces immediate stimulation. (continued)

Motivation and Extrinsic Feedback (continued) Motivating feedback results in more enjoyable experiences; participants try harder and practice longer. Don’t wait too long to provide feedback, especially during early learning because motivation may sag and learning may suffer. Give motivational feedback for improvement and sometimes effort, even if the goal is not met.

Reinforcement Reinforcement after a person’s response is necessary and increases the likelihood that he or she will produce the same response under similar circumstances.

Three Types of Reinforcement Positive reinforcement is an event following a response that causes people to repeat the action under similar circumstances. Negative reinforcement removes an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of the desired positive behavior. Punishment tells the person that the action is not desirable but does not give the corrected, beneficial information.

Reinforcement Intermittent reinforcement given only occasionally is more effective for learning than feedback given after every performance. Informational feedback provides error-correction information more precise than “the shot was a little wide.”

Dependency-Producing Properties of Feedback If feedback is given too often, people rely on the feedback in order to perform correct movement and don’t rely on intrinsic feedback.

Information Feedback Ask if feedback is needed, did the learner request it? (It’s more effective that way.) Complexity of task and experience of learner are critical. Feedback is beneficial while learning difficult tasks but not simple tasks. (continued)

Information Feedback (continued) What features of the performer’s movements do you provide information about? Information about the features that people have most control over (early start for tennis swing) is more valued. Provide information about the features of the movement that are most critical for performing the overall action. (continued)

Information Feedback (continued) It is critical to give initial feedback to help learners correct errors about fundamental movement patterns. Parameter feedback provides learners with error information about the parameter values (amplitude, speed, force) they are selecting to make their movement fit the environmental requirements.

Visual Feedback Videotape is the most common form. The instructor must provide direction regarding critical components of visual feedback. Beginners can attend to only a limited amount of information at a time.

Types of Feedback Descriptive feedback restates something the learner did (poor swing). Prescriptive feedback provides information for efficient correction. (continued)

Types of Feedback (continued) Summary feedback provides information about a series of performances and is given at the end or after a while. The more difficult the task, the more frequently summary feedback is given. (continued)

Types of Feedback (continued) Average feedback is provided after a series of practice attempts and informs learners about their average performance. Average feedback helps practitioners avoid dependency-producing effects and allows the instructor to develop an idea of the learner’s general movement pattern. (continued)

Types of Feedback (continued) Bandwidth feedback is given to the learner when errors exceed a certain number or fall outside of some parameter. Bandwidth feedback reduces learners’ dependence on external feedback as they become more skilled. Feedback not given means that the performance was at least acceptable.

Frequency of Feedback Absolute feedback frequency is the total number of times feedback is given for a series of performances. Relative feedback frequency is the total number of times feedback is presented divided by the number of movement attempts (multiplied by 100 to arrive at a percentage). As a general rule, increasing the absolute frequency of feedback enhances learning.

Timing Feedback Instantaneous feedback is provided immediately after movement completion. Instantaneous feedback results in less learning or poorer performance than delayed feedback does. Delayed feedback is provided several seconds or more after movement completion. Delayed feedback is believed to allow learners time to process their own feedback and estimate their own errors, which allows more learning.