The Learner: Pre-instruction Considerations Chapter 6

Effective Communication In your future professional path: With whom will you need to communicate? When will you communicate in the learning process? Why will effective communication be important?

Effective Communication Communication is the greatest single factor that impacts a learner’s ability to understand new concepts and achieve movement proficiency Messages must be clear, concise, & match the developmental level of the learner However, learners are all unique in how they receive new information and make sense of it

Effective Communication The practitioner must provide meaningful instructions that take into account: Learning styles Individual differences Level of motivation

Learning Styles Individual preference for receiving and processing new information Greater achievement when instructional and learning styles match Dunn and Dunn’s model (1975) Processing preference Global vs. analytical learners

Global Learners Need to see the big picture first then focus on the details Show the whole skill before breaking it into pieces to learn

Analytical Learners Do better with sequential instruction that culminates in the final product Breaking the skill into pieces and then combining to the whole is best

Perceptual Mode Modal strength Four perceptual modes: Preferred perceptual mode through which a learner takes in information Four perceptual modes: Visual Kinesthetic Analytical Auditory

Examples of Cue Words and Strategies

Accommodating Learner’s Style Utilizing only one presentation style denies learners comparable opportunities to understand the information presented Know your learning style – tends to influence teaching style Use eclectic approach when working with groups

Practical Application Choose any skill and describe your teaching strategies that would accommodate all four styles of learning How would you help a learner in PT? In the classroom? In the training room? In the cardiac rehab facility?

Review Question If effective communication occurs when messages are clear, concise, and match the level of the receiver, what is the significance of matching presentation style and learning style? Pick two learning styles and list cues words and teaching strategies to match the learning styles.

The Learner The learner is the central focus for the practitioner, therefore the practitioner must consider: Present stage of learning Learning style Past experiences Motivation Abilities

Past Experience & Transfer When the learning of a new skill or its performance under novel conditions is influenced by past experience with another skill or skills From the learning setting to a target context/new environment PT lab to the home Doing a target skill under a different situation Taking a jump shot practiced in isolation to doing the jump shot over an outstretched arm of a defender Instruction in basic skills to later be combined to form more complex skills Teaching elementary students how to throw to later be combined to throw to a player at a base Making a difficult task easier for initial practice: combined serial skills in a skating routine would be separated for initial practice

Types of Transfer Positive Facilitates Negative Hinders Zero No effect

Theories of Transfer Identical elements theory The more identical elements shared by two skills, the greater the positive transfer from one to the other Transfer appropriate processing theory Positive transfer would be expected when practice conditions require learners to engage in problem-solving processes similar to those experienced during the criterion task (or authentic situation)

Fostering Positive Transfer Analyze the skill Examine the following to determine the degree of similarity between two skills: Fundamental movement pattern The strategic and conceptual aspects of the game or task Perceptual elements: what visual search strategies are similar? Walking down a busy street vs. walking down a clinic hallway Temporal and spatial elements: similarities in how skills are done through time and space

Fostering Positive Transfer Cont. Determine the cost-benefit tradeoff: unless similarity between skills, no sense doing the activity Point out similarities and differences: how is a volleyball serve similar to a tennis serve? Make sure that skills referred to have been well learned: transfer won’t occur if the analogy isn’t well learned

Fostering Positive Transfer Cont. Use analogies: helps create a mental image Maximize similarities between practice and performance/competition Consider the skill level of the learner: beginners transfer more readily than intermediate or advanced learners

Assessing positive transfer After instruction, design a transfer test that allows learner to apply the content taught Experience with one skill to learning another skill (e.g. Bench press on Cybex machine to Dumbbell Bench press) Performing a skill in one situation to performing it in another context (e.g.practice setting to game setting)

What causes negative transfer? When an old stimulus requires a new but similar response Change in spatial location of movement Heat/AC switch in different location on a new car Change in timing characteristics of the movement Learning how to hit from one coach and then having another coach tell you to hit a different way Changing the rhythmic pattern of the skill Negative transfer effects are temporary; more often seen in early stages of learning

Why do negative transfer effects occur? Practice develops a specific memory representation This representation is the preferred way to perform (deep basin) When a familiar situation requires a slightly different movement, problems occur (phase shift is hampered) Another reason is cognitive confusion

Practical Application How would you maximize positive transfer and minimize negative transfer in a learning situation?

Motivation to learn Highly motivated learners: Devote greater effort to learning a task Are more conscientious during learning sessions Are more willing to practice for longer periods (even outside of the learning setting)

Motivation Most motor learning situations have an achievement orientation towards goals Success is judged by: Improvements to performance Improvements in performance when compared to performance of others

Ways to increase motivation Explain why it is important to learn the skill How is this skill relevant in daily life? Fitness benefits? Use in ADLs? Health benefits? Create a positive, supportive learning environment that is challenging yet realistic Provide opportunities for success Involve learner in the goal-setting process Construct goals that are relevant and process oriented

Abilities and Learning The underlying abilities inherited by the learner will predispose them to success or difficulty in various learning situations High levels of underlying abilities will predispose to better chance of success For those who do not have the underlying abilities: Performance goals should be realistic, perhaps less rigorous More specific practice opportunities towards a goal should be provided

Practical Application How might you motivate an injured athlete, a person doing rehab, a ninth grader who doesn’t like PE, to participate in the learning situation? Why is motivation a pre-instruction consideration? Why should underlying abilities be considered during pre-instruction planning?